SYRIA: Ambassador accuses foreign leaders

Ambassador Bashar Ja’afari sent identical letters to UN secretary-general Ban Ki Moon and the UN security council today, accusing foreign politicians of entering the country illegally.

He identified US Senator John McCain, former French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner, Kuwaiti parliamentarian Walid al-Tabtaba’I and former US ambassador to Croatia Peter Galbraith.

His letter said that Damascus “holds the governments of the states of which these persons are nationals fully responsible for the violations” of Syrian sovereignty.

COLOMBIA: Santos hints at ceasefire deal

President Juan Manuel Santos hinted on Monday night that he could ease his opposition to a ceasefire with national liberation movement Farc after recent progress in peace talks has led the government to rethink its negotiating strategy.

Mr Santos said that he has been heartened by recent actions by Farc, including its declaration of a unilateral ceasefire, which he said the movement is honouring.

MEXICO: Iguala mayor wife charged

Maria de los Angeles Pineda, the wife of the ousted Iguala mayor, was charged today with organised crime and money laundering.

Federal prosecutor Tomas Zeron said that Ms Pineda’s brothers were leading members of the Guerreros Unidos drug gang.

EUROPEAN UNION: Turkey quizzed over traffickers

European Commission spokeswoman Natasha Bertaud said today that the EU wants explanations from Turkey as to how human traffickers could have sailed two cargo ships towards Italy without the authorities noticing.

The freighters were picked up in the Mediterranean last week with more than 1,000 migrants aboard, many of them fleeing Syria.
Ms Bertaud said: “It’s always the same area the cargo ships are leaving from, so there is a problem that has to be resolved there.”

PAKISTAN: MPs send terror cases to military

Both houses of parliament voted unanimously today to allow military courts to preside over terrorism cases.

The legislation, which will expire after two years, is designed to speed up the trials of alleged terrorists and protect the process from intimidation that has marred previous trials in civilian courts.

Critics question whether the legislation gives away too much power to the military while doing nothing to improve the civilian courts in the long run.

EGYPT: Police killed at Coptic church

Gunmen shot dead two policemen guarding a Coptic church south of Cairo today morning, as the minority Christian sect prepared to mark Orthodox Christmas Eve.

The attack took place in the provincial capital of Minya, south of Cairo, which is home to Egypt’s largest Coptic community.

Another policeman was killed today while attempting to dismantle an improvised explosive device planted at a petrol station in Giza, west of Cairo.

GRENADA: Taiwan halves debt repayments due

Prime Minister Keith Mitchell announced today that his government will only have to pay half of a £13 million debt it owes Taiwan.
Mr Mitchell said that Taiwan had agreed to a payment plan for loans it awarded over a 10-year period.

Grenada severed ties with Taiwan in 2005, siding with China as it sought funds following heavy damage by Hurricane Ivan in 2004.