US sends Beirut huge arms stash

LEBANON: “This is the best that there is in the marketplace. It’s what our soldiers use,” US ambassador David Hale gushed yesterday as Washington sent $25 million (£16m) in weapons and ammunition to Beirut.

He said that the equipment included more than 70 M198 howitzers and over 26 million rounds of ammunition and artillery.

Lebanon has been hit by Islamic State (Isis) and the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front from Syrian territory in recent months.

32 arrested over plot for nationwide attack

TUNISIA: Security forces have arrested 32 extremists and thwarted an ambitious plot to attack civilian and military sites around the country.

Interior Ministry spokesman Mohamed Ali Laroui said at the weekend that some of those arrested had traveled to hot spots abroad, including Syria.

The hunt for other suspects was still under way, he said, and there was particular monitoring of citizens returning from Syria.

Capital protesters call for cheap fuel

HAITI: Thousands of protesters marched through the capital Port-au-Prince at the weekend to demand lower petrol prices and the removal of President Michel Martelly.

The protest remained peaceful overall, although police threw tear gas and dispersed a crowd that had thrown rubbish and tyres in the street to block traffic.

It was the latest in a series of fuel price demonstrations over recent weeks.

62 bodies found in death squad grave

COLOMBIA: A mass grave has been found in the south-west of the country, investigators this weekend.

They said that the victims had probably been killed by right-wing paramilitary death squads between 2000 and 2005.

Prosecutor-General Eduardo Montealegre estimated that there could be 62 bodies in the grave near the town of Olaya Herrera, adding that only 13 so far have been identified.

Opposition to boycott election

EGYPT: Opposition party Constitution announced at the weekend that it would boycott March’s elections in protest at Cairo’s human rights violations.

“The current political climate does not encourage political parties to participate in public life,” said the party, which had no seats in the previous parliament and is best known for links to former interim vice-president Mohammed el-Baradei.

A court ordered the dissolution of the last, Islamist-dominated, parliament in 2012.

56 strikes launched against Isis facilities

JORDAN: The air force has launched 56 strikes against Islamic State (Isis) since it released a video of the immolation of a Jordanian pilot last week, Major General Mansour al-Jabour announced yesterday.

Officials had said that they would retaliate harshly for the slaying of Lieutenant Muath al-Kaseasbeh, who was trapped in a cage at the time.

Maj Gen Jabour said training centres, barracks, warehouses and weapons depots had been destroyed.

Pyongyang tests five more missiles

NORTH KOREA: Pyongyang test-fired five short-range missiles into the sea yesterday in its second such weapons test this year.

Missiles, rockets and artillery are tested routinely, but the latest launches took place with the two Koreas at odds over terms for a meeting between their leaders.

The two states floated the idea of a summit last month, which would be the third such meeting since Korea was divided 70 years ago.

Voters not interested in anti-gay plebiscite

SLOVAKIA: A Catholic-backed nationwide referendum to restrict gay people failed at the weekend when only a fifth of Slovaks voted.

People were asked to agree that marriage can only be a union between a man and a woman, that same-sex couples be barred from adopting children and that parents should decide whether children receive sex education.

The vote attracted a turnout of only 21.4 per cent, well below the 50 per cent needed.