The world in brief

Saturday, May 3, 2014

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“It’s physically impossible right now.We don’t have enough shovels; we need more machinery.”

Gov. Shah Waliullah Adeeb of Badakhshan province, Afghanistan, who said

rescue workers didn’t have the necessary equipment to help the more than 2,000 people missing after a landslide buried much of a village in the area Article, this page

S. Sudan foes lined up to talk, Kerry says

JUBA, South Sudan - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Friday that he had secured a commitment from Salva Kiir, South Sudan’s president, to open talks with the former vice president who is leading a rebellion against him.

The negotiations could take place early next week.

After meeting with Kiir, Kerry said the South Sudan leader had promised to “take forceful steps” to carry out a ceasefire agreement the two sides had negotiated in January but promptly ignored and to begin a discussion on a transitional government.

The talks are to take place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, under the auspices of that country’s prime minister, Hailemariam Desalegn. Riek Machar, the rebel leader, had previously signaled to the Ethiopians that he was prepared to attend. Kerry said he planned to call Machar later Friday.

Violence in South Sudan has soared, efforts to deliver humanitarian aid have been hampered and there are increasing reports of human-rights abuses, including sexual violence and the recruitment of child soldiers.

Kerry said he expected 2,500 African troops to be deployed in the coming weeks but that a new U.N. Security Council resolution would first need to be adopted. “I hope it can be done quickly,” he said.

Army called in after 29 killed in India

GAUHATI, India - Authorities in India’s remote northeast called in the army to restore order and imposed an indefinite curfew after recovering seven more bodies today that brought to 29 the number of Muslim villagers killed by separatist rebels in the worst outbreak of violence in the region in two years.

Army troops marched through the troubled areas of Assam state in a show of force after police said gunmen from the Bodo tribe, which have long accused Muslims of sneaking into India illegally from neighboring Bangladesh, went on a shooting rampage, setting ablaze Muslim homes and firing indiscriminately on civilians.

At least eight women and as many children were among the dead, said regional police Inspector General L.R. Bishnoi.

The violence comes at a time of heightened security during India’s general election, with the voting taking place over six weeks.

Tensions have been high since a Bodo lawmaker in India’s Parliament criticized Muslims for not voting for the Bodo candidate, said Lafikul Islam Ahmed, leader of a Muslim youth organization called the All Bodoland Muslim Students’ Union.

Judge: U.K. illegally detained Afghan

LONDON - The detention policy used by U.K. forces in Afghanistan is unlawful, a British judge ruled Friday, siding with an Afghan who is seeking damages from the British government after he was detained for more than three months on British bases.

Serdar Mohammed, an Afghan captured by British forces during a military operation in Helmand province in 2010, alleged that British soldiers acted unlawfully when they detained him for 110 days without charging him. The claimant, who was suspected of being a Taliban commander, said that during this period he didn’t have the opportunity to challenge his detention.

High Court Judge George Leggatt ruled that while Mohammed’s arrest and initial detention had been lawful, the British government had no legal basis for detaining him beyond 96 hours. Doing so violated human-rights laws and the policies of the U.S.-led force in Afghanistan, he said.

Nigerian car-bomb death toll rises to 19

ABUJA, Nigeria - The death toll from a car bomb that exploded Thursday on a busy road in Nigeria’s capital rose to at least 19 overnight with 66 people wounded, police said Friday from Abuja, which hosts an international conference next week.

The bomb was driven near a checkpoint where traffic had backed up.

In a separate development, police said the number of girls missing after being kidnapped from a school by the zealots has risen to 276 - an increase of more than 30 over the previous estimate.

Police Commissioner Tanko Lawan said the actual number of girls and young women abducted the night of April 14 was more than 300, with the number who have escaped also rising, to 53.

He said the figures keep increasing because of initial confusion about how many girls were at the school, where students from other schools were sent for final exams.

Front Section, Pages 6 on 05/03/2014