IN BRIEF (Page 11)

Sudan

Rivals agree to new talks over protests

Sudan's military and opposition groups have agreed to resume talks on the formation of a transitional council, an Ethiopian envoy said on Tuesday, as an opposition alliance said it was suspending its campaign of civil disobedience and strikes. Sudan's Transitional Military Council also agreed to release political prisoners as a confidence-building measure, special envoy Mahmoud Dirir said in Khartoum. The steps appeared to show a softening of positions after talks between the two sides collapsed following the violent dispersal of a protest sit-in on June 3. Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir was removed from office by the military on April 11 amid massive protests. The Transitional Military Council was formed to run the country. The protesters were demanding a return to civilian rule and were met with violence from the military.

Mali

Govt reduces village raid death toll to 35

Mali's government has revised down the death toll from a recent attack on a Dogon village to 35 from at least 95 initially estimated to have died in the latest incident of interethnic violence to shake the nation. In a statement broadcast on state radio on Wednesday, the government said the initial death toll announced by the village chief had combined the numbers of dead and missing. Bodies recovered from the massacre included at least 24 children, many of them shot in the back, Malian Prime Minister Boubou Cisse said during a visit to the crime scene on Tuesday. "All these victims of horror and barbarity remind us of our responsibility as leaders to reinforce and accelerate security," Cisse said.

France

Two guards freed as prison standoff ends

An inmate armed with a homemade weapon took two guards hostage at a high-security prison in northwest France on Tuesday before both were freed unharmed five hours later, authorities said. Police tactical units arrived by helicopter as the hostage situation unfolded at the Conde-sur-Sarthe Penitentiary Center, which holds dangerous or radicalized prisoners and those with serious discipline problems. The prisoner, armed with the improvised weapon, had taken the guard and the female trainee hostage during mealtime, officials said. The guard was released first and then the female trainee was also freed, both "safe and sound".

Israel

Girl's death highlights system shortfalls

The death of a 5-year-old Palestinian girl has drawn attention to Israel's cumbersome system for issuing travel permits to Gaza medical patients and their families. The system has Israeli and Palestinian authorities blaming each other for its shortfalls, while inflicting a heavy toll on Gaza's sick children and their parents. When Aisha a-Lulu came out of brain surgery in a strange Jerusalem hospital room, she called out for her mother and father. She repeated the cry over and over, but her parents never came. Instead of a family member, Israeli authorities had approved a stranger to escort Aisha from the blockaded Gaza Strip to the East Jerusalem hospital. As her condition deteriorated, the child was returned to Gaza unconscious. One week later, she was dead.

Reuters - Afp - Xinhua

(China Daily 06/13/2019 page11)