AFP,, Maputo
Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi and Renamo opposition leader Ossufo Momade on Thursday signed a landmark agreement aimed at formally ending decades of military hostilities, state TV said.
The signing took place in the Gorongosa National Park in central Mozambique, nearly 27 years after the end of the southern African country’s first civil war. The two leaders hugged after penning the deal on a mounted stage in Gorongosa where a white tablecloth carried the inscription “Peace: Final agreement on cessation of hostilities”, according to live broadcasts of the ceremony.
Mexico opens first govt shelter for asylum seekers
AP, Juarez
The Mexican government opened its first shelter Thursday in the border city of Juarez to house Central Americans and other migrants seeking asylum in the United States who have been sent back to Mexico to await the process.
Government officials said the shelter at a former assembly plant in the city across from El Paso, Texas, can house 3,500 migrants.Labor ministry official Horacio Duarte Olivares said the facility will provide shelter, meals, medical attention and access to the local labor market for migrants.
UN to probe attacks on facilities in northwest Syria
AFP, United Nations
The United Nations will investigate several attacks on UN-supported facilities and other civilian sites in northwest Syria, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced on Thursday, angering Russia.
Guterres also expressed hope that a truce agreed in the Idlib region by the Syrian government on Thursday would hold, with the ceasefire contingent on implementation of a Turkish-Russian buffer zone deal.
Russia PM’s visit to disputed island irks Japan
AFP, Moscow
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Friday visited one of a chain of far-eastern islands claimed by Japan, sparking a protest from Tokyo. Paying a visit to Russia’s Sakhalin Island, Medvedev also went to Iturup, one of the four islands contested by Japan, where it is known as Etorofu. “This is our land,” Medvedev told reporters during the trip which included visits to a fish-processing plant and hot springs.
Texas man charged with supporting IS
AP, Dallas
Federal prosecutors say a North Texas man who was captured by military forces in Syrian has been charged with supporting the Islamic State.
In July, a grand jury indicted 23-year-old Omer Kuzu on one count of conspiring to support a foreign terrorist organization. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas says Kuzu made a first appearance in a Dallas court Thursday and pleaded not guilty.
