Ivory Coast Some of the victims were non-Ivorians but from other west Africa countries. UN investigators have found more than 100 bodies in the past 24 hours in western Ivory Coast in what appeared to have been ethnically driven killings, the UN human rights office said Friday. "The human rights team investigating in west Cote d Ivoire found more than 100 bodies in the past 24 hours in three locations," said Rupert Colville, spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. "All the incidents appear to have been at least partly ethnically motivated," he added. About 40 bodies were found in Blolequin, west of Duekoue, and "perpetrators appear to be Liberian mercenaries." "The team also went to a nearby town of Guiglo, where they saw more than 60 bodies," he said, adding that some of the victims included people who were non-Ivorians but from other west Africa countries. "Certainly there has been an escalation in the past two weeks," he added.
Egypt Seven army officers defied a warning from the ruling military council when they joined protesters. Tens of thousands of Egyptians massed in Cairo s Tahrir Square on Friday two months after president Hosni Mubarak was ousted to demand the trial of former regime elements, slamming the military rulers for stalling on reforms. Waving flags and holding banners in a protest dubbed the "Day of Trial and Cleansing," protesters vowed to press the ruling military council to deliver on promises of reform and justice. Seven army officers defied a warning from the ruling military council when they joined the protesters call for former regime elements to face trial. "Our demands are your demands. We want a civilian government. We want to try corrupt people," one officer said to loud cheers. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, that took power after Mubarak was ousted on February 11, warned that anyone protesting in military uniform on Friday would face trial in a military court. A general and several military police officers went to the makeshift podium to speak with them. Meanwhile, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh rejected a mediation offer by Gulf nations that called on him to resign, denouncing the proposal in a speech before tens of thousands of cheering supporters in the capital Friday. An even larger group of demonstrators nearby and hundreds of thousands of protesters across the country demanded his ouster.
Bolivia Miners and other union workers have launched massive protest in in La Paz. The workers - including miners, teachers and health workers - are demanding higher wages in light of inflation that is eroding their pay. “Today, the cost of basic family basket (of food) has gone up almost four times in price. You used to be able to eat lunch for 6 Bolivians; now, it costs 15. Fifteen!” said Omar Carrion, a teacher and union leader. “And there is no person who could live on 20 Bolivians a day. That s reality in our country. That s why today we demand raises in our salary, for teachers to have level hours and for everyone to benefit from salary increases-- not just for teachers, but for doctors, for salaried workers, for police, for prosecutors-- for everyone, because we all eat,” he added. Bolivian President Evo Morales had agreed to a 10 percent pay rise, but only for a few key sectors. The protesters were demanding a more generous and more inclusive policy. Miners set off dynamite, as police tried to disperse crowds with tear gas and jets of water, which they fired from armored vehicles. As the cries rose against President Evo Morales, the demonstration showed how the 51-year-old statesman has fallen out of favor with his former stronghold: the Bolivian working class who helped him to come to power as the country s first indigenous leader in 2002. Communications Minister Ivan Canelas said the government was willing to talk, but strikers must abandon violence. “There is good willingness to hold talks, to dialogue through the ministers in the area. We believe the workers all have the right to protest but not to generate violence. This situation has caused discontent by the population because of the fear caused by miners throwing dynamite,” he said. The government has stuck by a 10 percent pay rise, which will only go to the army, police and certain workers in health and education. Many of Morales supporters turned against him at the end of last year when he said he would be cutting fuel subsidies. After huge protests erupted across the nation, Morales backtracked the decision, at least temporarily. Prices have been spiraling since and many poor Bolivians say they can no longer afford to feed their families.
Israel Israeli officials say it so often they've taken to apologizing for using the example, acknowledging it's become a cliché: Israel and Hamas can lob shells into and out of the Gaza Strip indefinitely without risking actual war, the explanation begins. Each side wants to appear tough, and over four years the call and response has grown as delicately calibrated as a minuet. But should one of Hamas' hastily fired, unguided rockets happen to land on a kindergarten, all bets are off. So more than one kind of madness appeared to be operating Thursday when a Hamas fire team in Gaza aimed an anti-tank missile at a big yellow school bus on the Israeli side, and pulled the trigger. The heat-seeking missile struck the rear of the vehicle, leaving the only student on board, a 16-year-old boy, with a critical head wound, and the Israeli government under intense pressure to take the conflict to another level. Indeed, on Friday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that the bus attack "crossed the line" and hinted more strikes will be forthcoming beyond Israel's immediate response. Artillery and air strikes wounded three on Thursday, and the next morning killed five. In addition to two militants, Friday's fatalities included an elderly man, a housewife and her daughter. The spiral toward war tightens even though by every account neither Israel nor Hamas actually wants one. Operation Cast Lead, as Israelis called the bombardment and incursion on the eve of President Obama's inauguration, cost the militant Islamist government, by its own account, some 700 fighters, and the Jewish State another layer of a hide that is remarkably thick but not impervious to international outrage. The criticism cascaded in with coverage of the three-week bombardment, and the resulting hundreds of civilian deaths.
Pakistan The arrested bomber of the Sakhi Sarwar shrine in Dera Ghazi Khan, apologised to the Pakistani nation on Friday and said that he had been told to bomb the areas of non-Muslims.
During investigations, Omar told officials that there were 350 people receiving suicide bombing training in the militant hideouts of Waziristan. He said that these included Uzbeks, Tajiks, Arabs and Punjabis. Omar said that he used to be blindfolded and taken for training. He said that the in-charge of the camp was Sangeen Khan who used to constantly be away on travel. He also disclosed that the second bombing was supposed to take place between the rescue and media teams.
Syria At least 22 protesters were killed in bloody clashes with Syria security forces on Friday witnesses said, as the unrest that has engulfed the country closed its third week. Syria state TV reported that 19 policemen were killed in the fray as well, attacked by armed groups of demonstrators retaliating for security forces' brutal crackdowns over the past few weeks. Syrian security forces killed 17 protesters in the southern city of Daraa on Friday when they fired at a demonstration against Baath Party rule, a hospital source and activist said. An additional two were reported dead in Homs, with another three killed by security forces in the city of Harsata. Protest organizers have called on Syrians to take to the streets every Friday for the past three weeks, demanding reform in one of the most authoritarian nations in the Middle East. The protests have rattled the regime of President Bashar Assad, whose family has ruled Syria for nearly 40 years.
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