Colombia
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos continues to push legislation that would broaden the country’s military jurisdiction despite determinations by the United Nations that Colombian soldiers killed hundreds of civilians only to boost rebel body counts. According to the Associated Press, civilians were “lured to their deaths with job promises then dressed in military fatigues and registered as guerrillas slain in combat.” During the past five years, authorities registered about 3,900 of these cases, according to the AP.
Egypt
An American prisoner detained in Ismailia, Egypt was found dead in his prison cell Sunday. James Lunn, the prisoner, was arrested by police Aug. 28 after officers found “important installations” in his possession following a car bombing outside a police station in the country’s Sinai Peninsula. Egyptian authorities said in a statement that Lunn committed suicide. Lunn is the second foreigner to die in Egyptian custody in one month, after an arrested French national was beaten to death by his cell mates in Cairo in September. According to the statement, Egyptian authorities assigned a coroner to determine Lunn’s cause of death.
Ethiopia
Two people died in a bomb blast in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa on Sunday. The explosion occurred in the Bole district of the city near a soccer stadium in which soccer spectators were buying tickets for a World Cup qualifying match between Ethiopia and Nigeria. Although nobody has claimed responsibility for the attack, the Ethiopian government suspects rebel groups in the country’s south and southeast regions and Somalian insurgents to be responsible. According to Reuters, the Ethiopian Security Service is investigating the incident.
France
Authorities evacuated tourists from the Eiffel Tower Sunday afternoon after French police received criminal threats directed to the Parisian landmark. Officers also surrounded the tower after they received threats by telephone, but they did not elaborate on the threats. The attraction closed for one and a half hour and reopened later that day. According to Agence-France Presse, there have been two bomb threats and an attempted suicide at the tower earlier this year. About 32,000 tourists visit the landmark daily, AFP stated.
India
A stampede of Hindu worshippers rushing to a temple on a bridge over the country’s Sindh River resulted in the death of 89 people Sunday. Frenzy caused the incident after rumors that the crowded bridge was going to collapse forced people to rush to vacate the structure. The incident happened in the Ratangarh village temple on the final day of the 10-day Hindu festival Navaratri. Of the casualties, 17 were children and 31 were women. An additional 100 were rushed to hospitals for fractured bones. The Indian government has ordered a judicial inquiry to the incident, according to the AP.
Iraq
A series of 16 bomb explosions resulted in the death of at least 25 people in the country Sunday during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha. Five instantly died after two car bombs exploded consecutively in Shiite-majority city of Hilla. Four car bombs also went off in Kut, which is southeast of Baghdad, killing two others and injuring an additional 31. Police were unable to identify who initiated the attacks, but Sunni Muslims, who regard Shiite Muslims as nonbelievers, and insurgent organizations such as al-Qaida are suspected to be responsible.
Russia
Anti-migrant riots broke out Sunday in Moscow in the aftermath of the murder of an ethnic Russian man from the southern Russian region of Biryulyovo by a man from the Caucasus. According to Reuters, the protests started peacefully until young men crowded the scene and smashed shop windows. A YouTube video of the protests showed the young men shouting “white power.” Protesters then clashed with police, which resulted to the detention of 380 people. This was the biggest outbreak of anti-migrant unrest in the Russian capital in three years, Reuters stated.
United Kingdom
British Finance Minister George Osborne announced Sunday on his Twitter account that the country is taking further measures to “simplify (and) speed up visa applications for visitors from China.” Through these new measures, Chinese tourists who plan to visit the European Union through some travel agencies will not be required to apply for a British visa separately. The regulations are “good for tourism and British business,” Osborne tweeted. The country provided 210,000 visas to Chinese nationals in 2012, according to AFP.
