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UK
Theresa May becomes Prime Minister
Theresa May became Britain’s new prime minister on Wednesday, promising to carve out a bold new future in the world as she embarks on the monumental task of leading the country out of the European Union.
May, 59 assumed office after an audience with Queen Elizabeth and drove straight to her new home of 10 Downing Street, vacated hours earlier by David Cameron.
“We will rise to the challenge. As we leave the European Union we will forge a bold new positive role for ourselves in the world, and we will make Britain a country that works not for a privileged few, but for every one of us,” she said.
Cameron stepped down after Britons rejected his entreaties and voted to leave the EU in a referendum last month, severely undermining European efforts to forge greater unity and creating economic uncertainty across the 28-nation bloc.
Acknowledging the struggles faced by many Britons, May declared: “The government I lead will be driven not be the interests of the privileged few, but by yours. We will do everything we can to give you more control over your lives
FRANCE
France closes missions in Turkey over security fears
France has temporarily shut down its embassy in the Turkish capital Ankara and its consulate in Istanbul, citing security reasons.
“The Embassy of France in Ankara, as well as the Consulate-General in Istanbul, will be closed from Wednesday July 13, 1pm (10:00 GMT), until further notice,” the embassy said in a statement on Wednesday.
The announcement came a day after France scrapped Bastille Day – or French National Day – receptions at these missions on security grounds.
French consul to Istanbul Muriel Domenach wrote on Twitter the events in all three cities had been cancelled “for security reasons”, and that France was in touch with the Turkish authorities.
The Istanbul consulate had also sent an email message to French citizens in Turkey saying there had been “concurring information of a serious threat against the organisation of the July 14 celebrations in Turkey”.
ZIMBABWE
Court throws out case against anti-Mugabe pastor
A Zimbabwean court on Wednesday dismissed charges against a religious leader accused of trying to overthrow the government, saying prosecutors did not properly present the case.
“It’s my finding that the National Prosecuting Authority cannot charge the accused for (the) first time in court without charges being read out to him,” Magistrate Vakayi Chikwekwe told a packed courtroom
His lawyers successfully argued that the charge of subversion had been added at the last minute, denying him a fair trial.
The pastor has been at the heart of a social media campaign denouncing the government’s management of the economy.
Mr Mawarire, who started the #ThisFlag movement, was draped in Zimbabwe’s national flag in court.
The charge of subversion carries a maximum sentence of 20 years. On Tuesday, he was charged with inciting public violence and disturbing the peace.
MALI
Protesters call for government resignations after shootings
Protesters in Mali’s northern city of Gao on Wednesday called for the resignation of the region’s governor and the national security minister a day after three people were killed when security forces opened fire on a demonstration there.
The government has promised to open an inquiry into the incident, which saw at least 31 others injured and exposed the fragility of efforts to implement a year-old peace deal and stabilize the West African nation’s troubled north.
The protesters, some of whom burned tyres and threw stones at police, were angered by the introduction of a new interim authorities who are due to take charge of the region on Friday in line with the terms of the peace agreement.
After initially attempting to disperse the crowd with teargas, security forces shot at the protesters, witnesses said.
“We’re calling for the immediate departure of the governor (of Gao), the security minister and the heads of the police, the gendarmes and the army in Gao,” said Amadou Sarr, a leader of a local vigilante group who helped organize the demonstration.
JAPAN
Emperor Akihito ‘wishes to abdicate’
Japan’s Emperor Akihito has expressed his desire to abdicate in the next few years, public broadcaster NHK reports.
The 82-year-old, who has had health problems in recent years, reportedly does not wish to remain emperor if he has to reduce his official duties.
But a palace spokesman denied that there is any official plan for the monarch to abdicate in what would be an unprecedented move in modern Japan.
Crown Prince Naruhito, 56, is next in line to the Chrysanthemum Throne.
An unnamed government source told Japan’s Kyodo news agency that the emperor, who plays a largely ceremonial role but is respected deeply by many Japanese, has been contemplating the move for about a year.
His family had accepted his decision, an unnamed palace source told NHK.
CHINA
China claims right to air defence zone
Beijing “has the right” to declare an air defence identification zone over the South China Sea, it said Wednesday as it stepped up denunciations of an international tribunal that ruled against its expansive claims in the strategic waters.
Whether Beijing set up such a zone – which would require civilian aircraft to identify themselves to military controllers – depended on “the level of threat we receive”, said vice foreign minister Liu Zhenmin.
“Do not turn the South China Sea into a cradle of war,” he told reporters, insisting: “China’s aim is to turn the South China Sea into a sea of peace, friendship and cooperation”.
China reasserted its claims to the area, which extend almost to the coasts of neighbouring states, after the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) tribunal in The Hague backed the Philippines’ case that there was no legal basis for them.
Liu described the ruling as “a piece of waste paper” at a press conference, alleging the tribunal had been “manipulated”.
ITALY
Apulia train crash probe focuses on alert system
The investigation into Tuesday’s head-on train crash in southern Italy that killed 27 people is focusing on the antiquated alert system on the line.
They are looking into one of the black boxes recovered at the scene of the collision, on a remote single-track line north of the city of Bari.
The system relied on telephone calls and “human error” remains the main line of inquiry, reports say.
Dozens of rescue workers are still searching the wreckage.
The inquiry is focusing on the lack of automatic signalling system on a small part of the Italian railway network.
The stretch of track between the towns of Andria and Corato in the southern region of Apulia where the crash happened did not have an automatic alert or brake system.
VENEZUELA
Army deployed to control food production, distribution
Venezuela’s military has taken control of five ports in an effort to guarantee supplies of food and medicine.
In a decree, President Nicolas Maduro has ordered the army to monitor food processing plants, and co-ordinate the production and distribution of items.
Venezuela is going through a deep economic crisis despite having the world’s largest oil reserves.
Basic products are increasingly hard to find and many say they struggle to feed their families.
The Venezuelan Bishops Conference said the rise of the military is a “threat to tranquillity and peace”.
Mr Maduro says the measure is to fight the “economic war” he claims is being waged against his government by political foes and businessmen, with US backing.
BURUNDI
MP shot dead in Bujumbura
A former government minister has been shot dead in the Burundi capital, Bujumbura by unknown gunmen.
Hafsa Mossi was an MP in the East African parliament and a former BBC Swahili service journalist.
President Pierre Nkurunziza called it an assassination, and a vile and cowardly act.
There has been an increase in violence in Burundi since Mr Nkurunziza declared last year that he would run for a controversial third term.
The killing comes as the latest talks aimed at resolving the Burundi conflict hit a snag in the northern Tanzanian town of Arusha.
Government officials rejected the presence of members of the opposition effectively stopping the resumption of the negotiations.
IRAQ
Car bomb attack kills seven north of Baghdad
A suicide bomber killed at least seven people north of Baghdad on Wednesday, security and medical sources said, in the second bombing claimed by Islamic State in the district in as many days.
Eleven others were injured when the attacker detonated his car, laden with explosives, at a checkpoint.
Islamic State, which regularly carries out such bombings in the capital and other parts of Iraq, where it seized large swathes of territory in 2014, said in an online statement it had targeted the army.
A similar attack in Rashidiya on Tuesday, also claimed by the Sunni Islamist group, killed nine people.