Netanyahu talks of terror to come

Israel: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed yesterday that abiding by UN decisions could fuel radical Islam in the Middle East.

He heads to Europe today to urge Western leaders to oppose UN security council resolutions regarding Israel’s expansionism.

Mr Netanyahu said that “an attempt to compel us by means of UN decisions to withdraw to the 1967 lines within two years” would lead “Islamic extremists to the outskirts of Tel Aviv and the heart of Jerusalem.”

Fighting shuts down oil terminal

Libya: Oil Minister Mashallah al-Zawi reported yesterday that the country’s largest oil shipping terminal has been shut down due to clashes between rival militias.

Sidra and another port to the east, Ras Lanuf, are both controlled by eastern militias loyal to a rival elected government based in Tobruk.

10 miners found dead after blast

China: Ten miners were found dead yesterday hours after they were trapped in an explosion at a mine in the north-eastern province of Heilongjiang.

The cause of the incident in the city of Jixi was under investigation, said the state-run China News Service.

China’s mines are the world’s deadliest, but a safety campaign has lowered annual death rates to just over 1,000 in 2013 from more than 6,000 a decade ago.

Marchers oppose talks with Farc

Colombia: More than 5,000 opponents of peace talks with the Farc national liberation movement marched through capital Bogota at the weekend.

The marchers were mainly backers of former president Alvaro Uribe, who has bitterly opposed the peace process started by his successor Juan Manuel Santos.

Mr Uribe, whose family was linked with far-right death squads, opposes an amnesty for Farc members, knowing that it is an essential requirement of the peace talks in Havana.

Law and Justice demands rerun

Poland: Thousands of supporters of Jaroslaw Kaczynski’s conservative Law and Justice party marched through central Warsaw at the weekend to demand a rerun of recent local elections.

Mr Kaczynski says that the November poll results were falsified.

They were marred by problems, with a computer glitch delaying results and ballots declared invalid because many voters were apparently confused and marked them incorrectly.

Call for militants to release prisoners

Lebanon: Scores of families, friends and supporters of two dozen police and soldiers held captive by jihadi militants rallied in central Beirut at the weekend, demanding their swift release.

The Islamic State group (Isis) and al-Qaida’s Syrian Nusra Front affiliate captured the men in August in a cross-border raid and have already killed at least four of their captives.