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News ID: 52003
Publish Date : 20 April 2018 - 20:42

News in Brief

MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) — Police in Nicaragua say that a police officer, protester, and pro-government activist have been killed in clashes over a planned social security reform.
The National Police said the officer was killed Thursday by a shotgun blast and the protester died as a result of "a dispute between gangs.” It identified the protester as a student at the National Polytechnical University.
It said the activist was killed by a gunshot in Tipitapa, a city outside of the capital of Managua where supporters of the Sandinista government have been involved in clashes.
The protests started after the government increased payroll taxes and changed pensions to try to shore up Nicaragua’s troubled social security system.
The government has ordered five independent TV channels that have been covering the unrest off the air.

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MADRID (AFP) -- The Basque separatist group ETA apologized Friday for the "pain" and "harm" it caused during its decades-long campaign of violence, and appealed to its victims for forgiveness.
"We have caused a lot of pain, and irreparable harm. We want to show our respect to the dead, to the wounded, and to the victims of the actions of ETA... We sincerely regret it," it said in a statement released in the Basque newspaper Gara.
The statement came just days before ETA is expected to announce its dissolution.
ETA waged a nearly four-decade campaign of bombings and shootings to establish an independent Basque state in northern Spain and southern France.
At least 829 people were killed before the group announced a permanent ceasefire in 2011.
The group has been severely weakened in recent years after police arrested hundreds of its members, including its leaders, and seized several of its weapons stashes.
Spain's 2.2-million-strong Basque region is now gearing up for the dissolution of the group created in 1959 at the height of Francisco Franco's dictatorship.
 
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JOHANNESBURG (AFP) -- South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Friday returned early from a summit in London to rush to the scene of violent demonstrations in North West province, where at least 23 people have been arrested.
Ramaphosa, who took power in February, expressed "serious concern" over the clashes between police and protesters, and called for calm as he faced one of the first major challenges of his presidency.
Violent protests are common in South Africa, but North West province has been a hotbed of unrest due to boiling frustration over lack of housing, health services and jobs.
Television images showed police firing rubber bullets on Friday morning to break up crowds of protesters in Mahikeng, the provincial capital, shortly before Ramaphosa was due to arrive.
Footage from Thursday showed thick smoke rising into the air in and around the city, while protesters looted shops and burned vehicles overnight.

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MANILA (Reuters) -- The Philippines decried what it said was interference in its internal affairs by the European Parliament, which urged the Southeast Asian nation in a resolution to end "extrajudicial killings” and halt plans to bring back the death penalty.
About 4,100 people have been killed by police in the Philippines since President Rodrigo Duterte took power in late June 2016 in what the authorities say were shootouts during anti-narcotics operations. Activists say many of those killings were executions, which police deny.
At least 2,300 drug-related deaths have occurred separately, at the hands of what police say are unknown assassins.
The European lawmakers on Thursday condemned Philippine authorities for "trying to justify these murders with falsified evidence”, which Manila said was meddling and based on wrong information. 

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YEREVAN (AFP) -- Police arrested more than 180 people as opposition supporters staged sit-ins and attempted to block traffic in Armenia’s capital Friday, the latest in days of protests at what they are branding a power-grab by ex-president Serzh Sarkisian.
For the past week, thousands of opposition supporters have held rallies to denounce Sarkisian’s efforts to remain in power as prime minister after a decade serving as president.
On Friday, demonstrators waved national flags and held up placards reading "Sarkisian is a dictator” as rallies in the impoverished ex-Soviet country went into their eighth day.
Protesters tried to block roads in response to repeated calls by the leader of the protests, lawmaker Nikol Pashinyan, to paralyse traffic, but police prevented those attempts.
A police spokesman told AFP that more than 180 people were detained in the capital.
Protesters also rallied in the second city of Gyumri where they attempted to block a main road leading to the capital.

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BEIJING/MELBOURNE (Reuters) -- Chinese and Australian naval vessels had an "encounter” in the South China Sea this week, and China acted professionally and lawfully, its defense ministry said, rejecting reports China challenged Australian warships.
The Australian Defense Department confirmed three ships had recently traveled to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam but declined to comment on "operational details related to ships transiting the South China Sea”.
The Australian Broadcasting Corp cited one official saying the exchanges with the Chinese navy were polite but "robust”.
China’s Defense Ministry said in a statement the reports in Australian media "did not accord with the facts”.
"The Chinese side’s ships used professional language to communicate with the Australian side, and their operations were lawful, in compliance, professional and safe,” it said.
The "encounter” happened on Sunday, it said.