The world in brief

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I have nothing left for me to remember, so I brought these photos. My house was destroyed.”

Fadia al-Ahmar,

a Syrian woman who returned to her home Friday after rebels withdrew from Homs

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S. Sudan rivals said to target civilians

JUBA, South Sudan -- South Sudanese government forces and rebels systematically targeted civilians in their homes and places of refuge during the country's 5-month-old conflict, Amnesty International said.

Fighters allied with President Salva Kiir and his rival, Riek Machar, attacked civilians in towns and villages as well as in hospitals, churches, mosques and United Nations bases, the London-based advocacy group said Friday in a report. Amnesty researchers visiting South Sudan in March gathered evidence of "dozens" of mass graves, including five containing 530 bodies, and heard testimonies of gang-rape and mass killings.

"Forces on both sides have shown total disregard for the most fundamental principles of international human rights and humanitarian law," Michelle Kagari, Amnesty's deputy director for Africa, said in a statement.

Conflict broke out in the world's newest nation on Dec. 15 with Kiir accusing Machar of plotting a coup, a charge Machar denies. Violence has left thousands of people dead and forced more than a million to flee their homes, according to the U.N.

Taliban hit outpost; both sides bloodied

KABUL, Afghanistan -- More than 100 Taliban fighters staged a large-scale attack Friday on a remote police checkpoint in western Afghanistan, wounding 11 police officers, authorities said.

The attack on the outpost in Bala Boluk district around 5 a.m. involved between 100 and 150 Taliban fighters, said Dilghan Khakrezwal, the deputy police chief in Farah province.

Militants captured a tank and a pickup after they forced about 25 police officers and army troops to briefly abandon the post. Some 70 police and army reinforcements were called in from the provincial capital about 20 miles away to help repulse the attack.

Khakrezwal said 11 police officers were wounded in the fighting, while Taliban casualties included six killed and 18 wounded.

Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi claimed responsibility for the attack.

Central African rebels pick new leader

BANGUI, Central African Republic -- A gathering of hundreds of Muslim fighters who once controlled Central African Republic has chosen a new leader, one rebel said Friday.

The group known as Seleka appointed Gen. Joseph Zindeko, who was once commander of a rebel base in the capital, as the new head of the movement, said Col. Mahamat Deya.

Seleka was forced from power in January nearly a year after its fighters overthrew the president. Christian militias have sprung up, saying they are seeking revenge for atrocities committed during Seleka's rule and plunging the country into sectarian violence.

Around 2,000 French troops and nearly 5,000 African peacekeepers are trying to stabilize Central African Republic, a country about the size of Texas.

The rebels said their gathering this week is intended to help them create a political wing so they can participate in reconciliation talks.

Seleka has been in disarray since it was forced from power but has recently begun to regroup in the north and has staged a series of attacks on towns in recent weeks.

S. Africa ruling party seals election win

PRETORIA, South Africa -- South Africa's ruling African National Congress was headed for a comfortable win as vote counting in South Africa's elections drew to a close Friday while key opposition rivals strengthened their support after 20 years of leadership by the party that led the fight against apartheid.

With nearly 99 percent of South Africa's voting districts counted, the African National Congress had 62.2 percent of the vote, a few percentage points lower than its result in 2009 elections, according to the national election commission.

The main opposition group, the Democratic Alliance, had 22.2 percent, up more than 5 percent since the last election. The Economic Freedom Fighters, a new party that wants to distribute wealth to the poor, had 6.3 percent.

Final results will be announced today, the election commission said.

Once led by Nelson Mandela, the African National Congress campaigned on a record of promoting democratic freedoms and providing basic services to millions of South Africans since the end of white rule in 1994. Its reputation has been tarnished by the 2012 killing of several dozen protesters by police during labor unrest and a scandal involving more than $20 million in state spending on the private home of President Jacob Zuma.

-- COMPILED BY DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE STAFF FROM WIRE REPORTS

A Section on 05/10/2014

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