S Arabia sentences 14 to death for terrorism
Saudi Arabia sentenced 14 people to death for terrorism on Wednesday after they were convicted of attacks on police in the Shi’ite Muslim minority area of Qatif in Eastern Province, scene of past anti-government protests, their lawyer said.
Another nine people were given jail sentences of three to 15 years and one was acquitted, their defense lawyer, who asked to remain anonymous, told Reuters.
HK police in court over ‘beating’ protester
AFP, Hong Kong
Seven Hong Kong police officers were in court Wednesday over the beating of a pro-democracy protester during mass rallies in 2014, an incident which was captured on film and beamed around the world.
On the first day of their highly anticipated trial, the seven men all pleaded not guilty to the attack on Civic Party activist Ken Tsang.
Guinea declared free of Ebola : WHO
Reuters, Dakar
Guinea has reached the end of active Ebola virus transmission, the World Health Organisation said on Wednesday, the second such declaration from the country at the epicenter of the world’s worst outbreak of the disease.
The proclamation was made because the person with Guinea’s last confirmed case tested negative for the second time more than 42 days ago.
Strike brings rail misery in France
BBC Online
An open-ended rail strike is under way in France just nine days before the country hosts the Euro 2016 football tournament.
Only 60% of high-speed trains and between a third and a half of other services are expected to run, according to the state rail company (the SNCF).
EgyptAir black box signals detected
BBC online
French naval search vessel picks up signals presumably from black box of crashed EgyptAir passenger jet, Egypt reports.
Egypt says a French ship has picked up signals from deep under Mediterranean Sea, presumed to be from black boxes of the EgyptAir plane that crashed last month.
Chinese peacekeeper, 3 civilians killed in Mali
AFP, Bamako
A Chinese peacekeeper serving with the UN’s Mali mission and three civilians working with an explosives unit have been killed in separate attacks, the UN and China’s foreign ministry said Wednesday.
The Tuesday attacks come days after five UN peacekeepers were killed in an ambush in central Mali, as concern grows over the future of the world body’s deadliest active mission.
Taliban hit court in east Ghazni, killing 6
AP, Kabul
Taliban gunmen stormed a court building in an eastern Afghan province on Wednesday, killing five civilians and a policeman, the Interior Ministry said.
A statement from the ministry said “four terrorists” were involved in the attack in the city of Ghazni, the capital of the eastern Ghazni province.
