Nigerians win back towns from extremists
MUBI, Nigeria – With a military escort instead of the usual pomp, the Emir of Mubi was reinstalled Friday in his palace, where until recently flew the black-and-white flag of Nigeria’s Islamic extremists, Boko Haram.
An army tank now guards Mubi’s town gate, fortified by sandbags, as residents return from the mountain hideouts where they hid while their city was held for more than a month by the militants.
After weeks of setbacks and reports that soldiers ran away when Haram attacked, Nigeria’s military, including newly deployed Special Forces, have gone on the offensive and have recaptured some cities and towns that had been held by Haram.
All is not yet back to normal in Mubi. Bodies of militants still litter one street – testimony to hard fighting by Nigerian soldiers who won back the town a week ago. They were helped by air raids, traditional hunters armed with guns and spears as well as vigilantes carrying clubs prickling with nails and other homemade weapons.
UN climate talks in overtime deadlock
LIMA, Peru – Already well into overtime, United Nations climate talks reached a standstill Saturday as developing countries rejected a draft deal they said would allow rich countries to shirk their responsibilities to fight global warming and pay for its impacts.
The main goal for the two-week session in Lima was relatively modest: Reach agreement on what information should go into the pledges that countries submit for a global climate pact expected to be adopted next year in Paris.
But even that became complicated, as several developing nations rejected a draft decision they said blurred the distinction between what poor and rich countries can be expected to do.
Egypt sends 439 to military trials
CAIRO – Egypt’s top prosecutor referred 439 people to military tribunals Saturday for acts of violence, including the killing of three policemen last year, while authorities denied entry to a prominent American scholar arriving at Cairo’s international airport, the latest incidents in the country’s sweeping crackdown on dissent.
Security officials said that one group of 139 men described as Islamists from the southern province of Minya, while another was comprised of 300 from the Nile Delta province of Beheira. The cases involve last year’s wave of violence that came in retaliation to a bloody police dispersal of an Islamist sit-in.
Associated Press
