An Cosantóir

14 | world strategic picture er was sacked after activists flew over Minsk, the capital, dropping scores of teddy bears wearing parachutes and pro- democracy signs. After months of tension in the French city of Amiens clashes broke out between police and youths. Several buildings were set on fire and 17 police were injured. Belarus's air force command- EUROPE John Ericson Vargas Car- dona aka Sebastian. He was leader of a criminal outfit associated with Pablo Esco- bar, the late infamous boss of the Medellin cartel. In Wisconsin a man shot THE AMERICAS Colombia police arrested and killed six worshippers at a Sikh temple near Milwau- kee. The killer was said to have been a white suprem- acist. It was the second gun attack in as many weeks. The fourth NASA rover to Ingushetia, Russia killed at least 7 people and wounded 11 who were attending the funeral of a police officer Ilez Korigov Malgobek, who was killed in a shootout with mili- tants a few days previous. Russia blames the attacks on militants who want to establish an Islamic state in the Caucasus region. people wounded in a bombing in the South-Eastern Turkish city of Gaziantep. Interior Min- ister Idris Naim said "It is rare to hear of an attack this deadly in Gaziantap, which is outside of the usual area of operations for the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK". Turkey, the EU and the US have formally labelled the PKK a terrorist organization. A suicide bombing in tan Workers Party in Turkey kidnapped Hüseyin Aygün, the deputy leader of the main opposition party, as he toured the province of Tunceli. He was released 48 hours later, but the rebels gained much publicity. 8 people were killed and 66 Rebels from the Kurdis- be sent to Mars, Curiosity, landed successfully. Over the next two years Curios- ity will investigate Martian geology and analyse the atmosphere. Scientists are anxious to find out if Mars ever possessed the ingredi- ents for life. attack the official buildings in Mogadishu, Somalia's con- stituent assembly voted in favour of a new constitution. The vote paves the way for a government to be elected. Two bombers tried to AFRICA rages on. Heavy fighting across all the country has sent thousands of refugees fleeing for safety. Although there have been several top defections from the government, including Prime Minister Riyad Hijab to Jordan, the Assad regime holds on. The heaviest of fighting occurred over Syria's second city, Aleppo. In the north east rebel Kurds took control of several towns, while in the North West Free Syrian forces hold much of the territory bordering with Turkey. Iran has reiterated its support for President Bashar Assad after a group of 48 Iranian citizens, who said they were pilgrims, were kidnapped in Damascus by rebels. MIDDLE EAST The Civil War in Syria ASIA cused by Human Rights Watch of killing and persecuting Muslims from the Rohingya ethnic group. Some 300 people were killed in two earthquakes in Iran's north-western province of East-Azerbaijan. At least 3,000 people were injured. 130 people were wounded with the fun loving style of North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, along with the sacking of the North's top general, may indicated reform is on the way. North Korea denied the suggestion. Myanmar's army was ac- South Korea suggested that Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo's party headquar- ters, injuring several people. The attackers wore military fatigues and rode in on a minibus to the opposition Ivorian Popular Front head- quarters in Abidjan. Gbagbo is in custody at the Interna- tional Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands. Gunmen attacked former An Cosantóir September 2012 www.dfmagazine.ie defence minister, gave the country's armed forces a month to prepare to con- script ultra-Orthodox Jewish men after a law exempting them from service was lift- ed in July. The US Secretary of Defence, Leon Panetta, played down reports that Israel was making closer moves to taking military action against Iran. Yemen's government Ehud Barak, Israel's blamed Al-Qaeda for a sui- cide bombing that killed at least 40 people at a funeral in Abyan. arrested after they had sailed to the disputed islands claimed by China, Taiwan and Japan (who control them). The activ- ists were from China, Hong Kong and Macau. The islands are known as the Senkakus in Japanese, and as the Diaoyus in Chinese. After being urged by Prime and 50 killed in a series of bombings in Afghanistan. The attacks took place along the Iranian border and the province of Kunduz. 14 activists in Japan were Minister Yoshihiko Noda, two Japanese cabinet ministers vis- ited Yosukuni shrine in Tokyo to mark the anniversary of the end of WWII on August 15th. The shrine commemorates Japa- nese war dead, including war criminals. China, South Korea and others see it as a reminder of Japanese military past.

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