World briefs

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Australia
Australia’s High Court will hear arguments for and against legalizing same-sex marriage this week. The Australian Capital Territory, which includes the capital city of Canberra, became the first jurisdiction in the country to legalize same-sex marriage late last month, and the law is expected to come into effect in early December. But if the High Court decides that the bill is inconsistent with the federal Marriage Act, the bill would become unconstitutional. The High Court is expected to issue a ruling in the next couple of days.

Democratic Republic of Congo
In an effort to advance peace talks with the Congolese military forces, the African country’s M23 rebels declared a ceasefire in Kinshasa, the Congolese capital, Sunday. According to a statement, rebels are calling “on the facilitator of the Kampala peace talks to immediately put in place a mechanism to monitor the ceasefire.” But the Congolese army seemed oblivious of the rebels’ offer, according to Reuters. Since the M23 rebellion launched last year, authorities had been able to drive rebels away from the territories they controlled, and this week, rebels left the eastern province of Bunagana, their final stronghold.

Germany
As German authorities attempt to diffuse a 4,000-pound bomb left from World War II, about 20,000 people were forced to leave their homes and evacuate from the western German city of Dortmund Sunday. Experts discovered the large bomb as they examined aerial photographs of the country’s Ruhr region. Authorities expected to diffuse the bomb by Sunday afternoon. According to The Associated Press, leftover bombs are often discovered scattered around Germany, but they are rarely as big as the one at Dortmund.

Nigeria
More than 30 wedding attendees, including the groom, were gunned down by Islamic militants after the wedding ceremony Saturday in the Firgi village in the country’s northeast region. Nigeria authorities said the victims were driving home to the state of Adamawa when militants attacked them on the highway. The road leads to a forest that serves as a popular hideout for Islamic militants, police say. Militants have already killed four security officers in a military checkpoint set up along the road last week, according to the AP.

Myanmar
A boat that sank off the western coast of Myanmar Sunday drowned 70 Muslim Rohingya refugees. So far, rescuers have found eight survivors of the incident. The boat, which was navigating the Bay of Bengal on its way to Bangladesh, was participating in the annual exodus of Muslim people from Myanmar’s Rakhine region. The United Nations had recently warned the country of the yearly phenomenon, which often turns out deadly for individuals participating in the event. Women, children and babies were among the tragedy’s casualties.

Pakistan
Pakistan officially announced that it plans to re-evaluate talks with the United States after a Pakistani Taliban leader was killed during a drone strike by the U.S. Hakimullah Messuhd, a Taliban leader who was wanted by the U.S. government, was killed in the strike Friday in the country’s northwestern region of North Waziristan. On Saturday, Pakistan claimed that the U.S. was sabotaging peace talks between the two nations and complained to a U.S. ambassador. A meeting supposedly hosted by Pakistan’s prime minister’s office set Sunday to review talks was cancelled without any explanation.

Poland
While Eastern Europe’s first post-communist prime minister is laid to his funeral Sunday, thousands gathered in front of the Arch Cathedral in the capital city of Warsaw to mourn his death. Tadeusz Masowiecki, who died last Monday at the age of 86 at a Warsaw hospital, served as an adviser to Solidarity freedom movement leader Lech Walesa. Masowiecki was credited for ousting communists from Poland in 1989, and became prime minister that year until 1990. The former premier, who had a deep Catholic faith, will have his final resting place in the town of Laski, near Warsaw.

Russia
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Saturday that he is enacting stricter anti-terrorism laws in the country to supplement the nearing 2014 Winter Olympics. The Winter Olympics will be held in February at the North Caucasian region of Sochi. According to documents published by the Russian government Sunday, actions “aimed at carrying out terrorist activity” would entail prison terms of up to 10 years. The law would also allow “the seizure of property of relatives and close acquaintances of suspected militants if they fail to provide documents proving their rightful acquisition,” Reuters reported.