Colombia
Revised peace deal ratified
Colombia’s Congress has ratified the revised peace accord between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. The lower house voted unanimously Wednesday night to accept the pact, completing congressional action following the Senate’s also unanimous ratification. The pact supported by President Juan Manuel Santos was opposed by his predecessor, conservative former President Alvaro Uribe. Colombian voters narrowly rejected the first version of the peace deal in a national referendum. The revised accord introduces some 50 changes intended to assuage critics.
Syria
More civilians killed in Aleppo
A series of artillery rounds lobbed Wednesday on Syria’s eastern Aleppo district killed 26 civilians, including seven children, as they fled a government ground offensive in the besieged enclave. It was the second time the Jub al-Quba neighborhood, in the historic district of the rebel-held eastern side of the city, was struck in as many days. Meanwhile, eight civilians, including two children, were killed in shelling on the government-held western side of the city, according to state media. The government blamed rebels for the attack.
South Africa
Test of HIV vaccine begins
The latest attempt in the long, frustrating search for a vaccine against HIV began in South Africa on Wednesday, as scientists test a beefed-up version of the only shot ever to show a glimmer of protection. The stakes are high. It’s the first study of its kind begun in seven years, and even moderate success could prove important not only in hard-hit South Africa, where more than 1,000 people a day are infected with HIV, but beyond.
England
Bank note isn’t vegetarian
The Bank of England’s new plastic 5-pound note is stronger, cleaner and safer — but apparently not suitable for vegetarians. Vegans and vegetarians are calling for the new bank notes, which have only been in circulation for two months, to be replaced because they are made with a substance derived from animal fat. The Bank of England confirmed on Twitter that the notes contain “a trace of a substance known as tallow” — a rendered form of animal fat, processed from suet. An online petition against the notes has been getting attention Wednesday. The petition says the use of tallow is “unacceptable to millions of vegans, vegetarians, Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and others in the U.K.”
Compiled from wire reports