Saharawi: Deadly clashes in raid on Western Sahara camp

   It is some of the worst violence in years amid the longest-running territorial dispute in Africa.

Several people have been killed in clashes in Western Sahara, as Moroccan security forces broke up a protest camp.

The number of victims differs according to sources – up to five dead on the Moroccan side, up to 13 protesters. For weeks, thousands of Saharawi people have been living in a tent camp near Laayoune, demanding jobs and better living conditions.

The storming of the site prompted claims of genocide by demonstrators outside Morocco’s embassy in Madrid.

A former Spanish colony, Western Sahara was annexed by Morocco in 1975. Ever since it has been at the centre of a bitter dispute between Rabat and independence campaigners.

The clashes erupted as UN-brokered talks on ending the stalemate got underway near New York.

Russia: Second Moscow journalist attacked in two days

A second journalist has been attacked in Moscow just two days after the attempted murder of a well-known reporter.

Anatoly Adamchuk, who works for a regional paper in the city, suffered concussion and head injures. It follows the brutal beating on Saturday of reporter Oleg Kashin, which prompted President Dmitry Medvedev to instruct the prosecutor general to take special control of the investigation.

Political correspondent for Kommersant Oleg Kashin was attacked by two men with an iron bar. He has been left in a coma.

Colleagues are calling for the Kremlin to tackleviolence against journalists – to date the murders of 19 of them remain unsolved.

Myanmar elections: Pro-democracy parties concede Myanmar election

Pro-democracy parties that ran in Myanmar’s first election for two decades conceded defeat on Tuesday. The largest opposition group, the National League for Democracy (NLD), had already boycotted Sunday’s vote.
The NLD said the election was a sham. The military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party won 80 percent of the seats in the country’s parliament. Meanwhile, government soldiers have intervened to quell unrest amongst ethnic rebels in Myawaddy in Myanmar’s eastern Karen State.

The rebels are seeking greater regional autonomy and are disinterested in a centralised form of government. Violent clashes erupted in Karen State on Monday, forcing as many as 17,000 people to flee across the border to Thailand. Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, has been governed by a military junta since 1990.

That is when the army stepped in to quash the results of the country’s last election and prevent the NLD from taking power.

Jordan: Islamist parties boycott Jordanian elections

Jordan is bracing itself for a record low turnout in today’s general election as Islamist parties boycott what they say is a government-controlled sham.

Protesters say parliament has lost its independence and is increasingly a mere rubber stamp for government policies.

As the Islamists opt out the number of seats set aside for women has doubled from six to twelve.

Despite the increase, the number of women candidates has fallen from 2007 levels.

However many would-be female MPs complain that it is men who have the financial power in Arab society. Thus it is men “who can spend more on gathering support”.

Although Jordan’s 120-seat lower house approves laws and monitors government performance, it is the King who retains complete authority.

Despite the increase in the number of seats for women, many obstacles stand in the way of Jordanian women influencing political life.
Their 12-seat quota is the only chance they have to enter the political arena.”

Refugee: Iraqi Christians in France after church attack 

Thirty-four Iraqi Christians and a Muslim guard who were recently wounded in an al Qaeda attack on a church in Baghdad have arrived in France for medical treatment.

They were all suffering from bullet or grenade injuries after the rescue shootout which followed their seizure by gunmen over a week ago.

They were accompanied by relatives who have all been offered temporary asylum.

French Immigration Minister Eric Besson said:
“This show of solidarity does not mean France and Europe call for Christian Iraqis to leave their country. What they wish and what we want to do is to help them live in peace and feel secure in their homeland.”

France plans to send a second evacuation flight to bring out a further 93 Christians.

Al-Qaeda has declared Christians in Iraq as a legitimate target.

It’s estimated that more than a million people have fled the country since the fall of Saddam Hussein.

From: Euronews