Weekly News Wrap: Monday, June 8, 2015

08 Jun Weekly News Wrap: Monday, June 8, 2015

08.06.15 | 0 Comments

Mali’s government and Tuareg-led rebels agreed on a ceasefire in a strategic town and on more political guarantees on Friday, steps towards a U.N.-brokered peace accord to end decades of uprisings in the northern region the separatists call Azawad.
The United Nations’ top human rights official called on Nigeria’s new President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday to investigate reports of horrifying crimes by Boko Haram Islamist rebels and alleged abuses by the military.
The United States will send a team to Nigeria in the next few weeks to discuss with the new government ways to renew cooperation in the fight against the Islamist militant group Boko Haram, a senior U.S. diplomat said on Thursday.

Fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group have been partly driven out of Syria’s northeastern city of Hasakah, the Syrian army has said.
Britain is to expand its military training mission in Iraq in the coming weeks, Prime Minister David Cameron announced on Sunday, saying the Iraqi army needed more help to deal with improvised bombs planted by Islamic State militants.
Saudi-led air strikes killed at least 44 people during an air raid on the main headquarters of the Yemeni army in central Sanaa on Sunday, the Houthi-run state news agency Saba said.
A rocket fired from the Hamas-controled Gaza Strip struck southern Israel on Saturday, causing no damage or casualties, Israel’s military said.

The United States, responding to a report that North Korea is developing a new space satellite, said on Thursday any launch that used ballistic missile technology would be a violation of United Nations resolutions.
Vietnam is in talks with European and U.S. contractors to buy fighter jets, maritime patrol planes and unarmed drones, sources said, as it looks to beef up its aerial defenses in the face of China’s growing assertiveness in disputed waters.

Group of Seven (G7) leaders vowed at a summit in the Bavarian Alps on Sunday to keep sanctions against Russia in place until President Vladimir Putin and Moscow-backed separatists fully implement the terms of a peace deal for Ukraine.
Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders will discuss efforts to prosecute suspects in the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 while in Moscow on Friday, his office said in a statement.
European Parliament President Martin Schulz urged Greece in a newspaper interview to accept a proposal by its international lenders for a cash-for-reforms deal, warning Athens that failing to reach an agreement would have “dramatic” consequences.
European anti-trust regulators have charged Russian gas giant Gazprom with abusing its market power in Eastern and Central Europe and accused Google of abusing its control in internet searches to promote its own services to the disadvantage of competitors.
British Prime Minister David Cameron sought to quell fresh signs of rebellion in his Conservative Party over Europe, warning ministers they will have to back his European Union strategy or leave his government.
Luxembourg overwhelmingly rejected in a referendum on Sunday giving full voting rights to foreign nationals, who make up nearly half the population.

The Colombian government and leftist FARC guerrillas agreed on Thursday to form a truth commission that would seek to shed light on atrocities once Latin America’s longest war is over.
Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez held talks with U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden during a visit to Russia in April, Anthony Romero, director of the American Civil Liberties Union and one of Snowden’s lawyers said on Thursday.
An Austin, Texas man was sentenced on Friday to almost seven years in prison for attempting to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State militant group.
Colombia is to impose tougher punishments on those who murder women and girls, as part of a government bid to stem high levels of violence against women.

Islamic State militants have used chlorine as a weapon and are recruiting highly trained technicians in a serious bid to develop chemical weapons, Australia’s Foreign Minister Julie Bishop warned.

The United Nations plans to host on Monday in Morocco a new round of talks among Libya’s warring factions in an effort to end a conflict that threatens to break up the oil producer.
U.N. agencies in Israel and the Palestinian territories reported an alarming number of child victims in last year’s war in the Gaza Strip but were split on whether Israel should be put on a list of violators of children’s rights, a U.N. document shows.
The United Nations Security Council on Friday condemned continued indiscriminate attacks on civilians in Syria, including aerial bombardment and barrel bombings that Western powers say only the government is capable of carrying out.

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