World News, 12th October, 2015

Iran’s state TV reports that Jason Rezaian, a jailed Washington Post reporter, has been convicted.

The Iranian-American, the newspaper’s Tehran correspondent, reportedly faces up to 10 to 20 years in prison.

Rezaian, the Post’s Tehran bureau chief, had been accused of charges including espionage in a closed-door trial that has been widely criticised by the US government and press freedom organisations.

In a broadcast late on Sunday, Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejehi, judiciary spokesman, said: “He has been convicted, but I don’t have the verdict’s details.”

He said Rezaian and his lawyer were eligible to appeal the conviction within 20 days.

3. MIDDLE EAST

Isrealis wounded in fresh stabbings in Jerusalem

Police said two youths were stabbed by two teenaged assailants – one of whom was shot dead and the other wounded – in a settlement in East Jerusalem.

Earlier, a policeman was wounded near the city’s police headquarters, while another was stabbed in the Old City but saved from injury by a protective vest.

The two attackers were shot, with one killed and the other wounded.

Four Israelis and dozens of Palestinians, including several assailants, have been killed in the recent upsurge of violence.

4. EUROPE

MH17 report to De released on Tuesday

A 15-month probe will come to an end on Tuesday when Dutch investigators release a final report into Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 that will be pored over for signs that the plane was shot down by Russian-backed Ukrainian rebels.

The Dutch Safety Board will issue its account of the crash, which will also assess whether commercial airlines should have been flying over the warzone and if passengers were conscious as the plane went down over eastern Ukraine in July 2014.

5. EUROPE

Turkish Prime Minister blames Ankara bombing on Islamic state

The Islamic State (IS) group is the prime suspect in the Ankara bombings that killed nearly 100 on Saturday, Turkish PM Ahmet Davutoglu has said.

No group has said it carried out the attack, but the government believes that two male suicide bombers caused the explosions, hitting a peace rally. The official death toll is 97 but rally organisers have put the figure at 128.

Funerals for more of the victims were held on Monday.

6. ASIA

NATO says five have been killed in Helicopter crash at Kabol base

A military helicopter has crashed at the NATO base in the Afghan capital, Kabul, killing five coalition members and injuring five others, authorities have said.

A statement from the Resolute Support Mission did not give the nationalities of those killed and injured, all of them NATO personnel.

However, Britain’s Ministry of Defense said two Royal Air Force members were among those killed when the Puma Mk 2 helicopter crashed while landing at the base, where Afghan security forces are being trained.

The mission statement said the helicopter “crashed due to a non-hostile incident” around 4:15pm (11:45 GMT) on Sunday at Camp Resolute Support in Kabul.

In London, the Ministry of Defense also said a convoy of British military vehicles came under attack earlier on Sunday in a separate incident in the capital, but there were no fatalities.

7. ASIA

South Korea to control history textbooks used in schools

South Korea’s government has announced controversial plans to control the history textbooks used in secondary schools.

Currently, secondary schools can choose from textbooks published by eight different publishing companies.

However, the government says that from 2017, all secondary schools must only use history textbooks issued by the state.

The move has sparked fierce criticism from academics and opposition parties.

The government has argued that current history textbooks are too left-leaning and encourage anti-American and pro-North Korea feelings, the BBC’s Kevin Kim in Seoul reports.

The new textbook, which will be called The Correct Textbook of History, will be written by a government-appointed panel of history teachers and academics.

8. ASIA

Delhi Police question two men after rape of girl of four

Indian police are questioning two men in connection with the rape of a four-year-old girl in the capital, Delhi.

The city’s deputy commissioner of police, Vijay Singh, told the BBC that no arrests had been made yet.

The child is in intensive care after being found unconscious by railway tracks on Friday night. She had surgery for extensive injuries, doctors say.

The attack raises fresh questions over women’s safety in Delhi after a 2012 gang rape and murder shocked the world.

The girl, who was found near her home in a poor neighbourhood in the north of the city, was slashed and had severe injuries on her body.

Her family allege she was lured with an offer of food or sweets by a group of men.

9. AFRICA

Ugandan Army confirms it will leave South Sudan

Ugandan troops will start leaving South Sudan by the end of this week, according to the head of the Ugandan force in the country.

This was a key rebel demand during drawn-out talks which led to a peace deal in August. All foreign forces were meant to have left by 10 October.

Meanwhile, a rebel leader has told the BBC the deal is unlikely to work and said he may take up arms again.

Tens of thousands of people have died since the civil war began in 2013.

10. SPORT

Former FIFA executive commitee member Makodi suspended

Former Fifa Executive Committee member and president of the Thailand Football Association Worawi Makudi has been handed a 90-day suspension from all football activities.

The adjudicatory chamber of the Ethics Committee, chaired by Hans-Joachim Eckert, has sanctioned Makudi for “a breach of the Code of Ethics”.

The ban will stop the Thai from participating in all football activities at national and international level and it has been confirmed that the case is now the subject of formal investigation proceedings.

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