New migrant caravan enters Mexico
AFP, Ciudad Hidalgo
Hundreds of Central Americans entered Mexico illegally as the latest migrant caravan trying to reach the United States began crossing the Mexican-Guatemalan border en masse Friday.
Not content to wait five days for the humanitarian visas Mexico is offering them, several hundred migrants took to make-shift rafts to cross the Suchiate River, which forms the frontier, or snuck across the loosely guarded border bridge overnight, AFP correspondents said.
Gunmen kill two Buddhist monks in Thailand
Reuters, Narathiwat
Unknown gunmen shot dead two Buddhist monks and injured two others in an attack at a temple in Thailand’s mainly Muslim south, the first such killing of a Buddhist monk in the restive region in more than three years.
An abbot and vice abbot were killed when at least six assailants believed to be dressed as members of a government security force burst into the Rattanupap temple in Narathiwat province and opened fire late on Friday, police said.
Indonesia cleric to
be freed
AP, Jakarta
An Islamic cleric who was the ideological leader of the Bali bombers and other Indonesian militants is being released early from a 15-year prison sentence after the country’s president relented on a condition that he renounce radical beliefs, lawyers confirmed Saturday.
Abu Bakar Bashir had previously been ineligible for parole because of his refusal to recognize the secular government’s authority. He insists he is only answerable to God and that Indonesia should be governed by Islamic law.
Burkina Faso PM, government resign
AFP, Ouagadougou
Burkina Faso’s government and Prime Minister Paul Kaba Thieba stood down on Friday, according to a statement released by the country’s president.
No explanation was given for the resignations, though sources told AFP President Roch Marc Christian Kabore wants to breathe new life into the leadership of the landlocked west African country, which is battling a rising wave of jihadist attacks and hostage-taking.
Zimbabwe workers reject latest wage offer
Reuters, Harare
Zimbabwe’s public workers have rejected a second offer to raise their salaries and demanded to be paid in dollars, days after at least three people died in violent anti-government protests.
Hundreds of Zimbabweans were detained on public order charges on Friday, as the United Nations urged an end to a security crackdown and an internet blackout.
