AP, Tokyo
Japan moved up the launch of an anti-terrorism intelligence unit following the deadly attacks in Paris, the government said Friday.
The specialized unit will be set up within the Foreign Ministry next week, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Friday.
2 Palestinian killed in West Bank
AP, Jerusalem
Israel’s military says two Palestinians attacked a soldier with knives in the West Bank, wounding him before forces shot and killed them.
It said the attack early Friday occurred in Hebron, a frequent flashpoint and the largest Palestinian city in the West Bank where some 850 Israelis live in heavily-guarded enclaves surrounded by tens of thousands of Palestinians.
Australia passes anti-terrorism law AFP, Sydney
Australia’s parliament has passed legislation to strip dual nationals of their citizenship if they are convicted of terrorism offences or found to have fought with banned groups overseas, despite concerns about deporting ‘jihadists.’
Attorney-General George Brandis said the Australian Citizenship Amendment Allegiance to Australia Bill, passed late Thursday, updated existing law to reflect “the new age of terrorism.”
US military to open all combat jobs to women
AP, Washington
After three years of study and debate, Defense Secretary Ash Carter ordered the military Thursday to open all military jobs to women, removing the final barriers that kept women from serving in combat, including the most dangerous and grueling commando posts.
“We are a joint force, and I have decided to make a decision which applies to the entire force,” Carter told a news conference.
Thousands homeless in Manila slum blaze
AFP, Manila
A huge fire chased hundreds of Philippine inmates out of their cells and razed a sprawling shantytown near a Manila prison today, leaving thousands of residents homeless, authorities said.
About 500 handcuffed female prisoners were evacuated from Manila City Jail and moved on a temporary basis to a nearby chapel, as towering flames from the burning homes licked the jail’s exterior walls, said national prison bureau official Superintendent Carolina Borrinaga.
