ETHIOPIA
Dozens of protesters killed
Ethiopian security forces shot dead several dozen people in weekend protests across the country as frustration with the government grows, an opposition leader and Amnesty International said Monday, while hundreds staged a rare demonstration in the capital after calls via social media. The government again blocked the internet over the weekend, alleging that “anti-peace elements” based abroad and online activists were to blame for the violence. In a statement, Amnesty International said at least 67 people were killed in the Oromia region alone when security forces fired on protesters, and that at least another 30 were shot and killed in the northern city of Bahir Dar.
KENYA
40 people deported to China
Kenya deported 35 Chinese and five Taiwanese to China after they were acquitted on wire fraud charges, a police official said Monday, despite Taiwan’s request not to send its nationals to what it considers a separate country. Taiwan rejects China’s claim to the self-governing island. A Taiwanese official based in South Africa had asked Kenya not to send the five Taiwanese to China. When asked if Kenya had deported the Taiwanese to China, Interior Ministry spokesman Mwenda Njoka said, “Why not?” The senior police official said all were put on a flight headed for the southern city of Guangzhou.
GERMANY
Rare giant panda baby born
Vienna Zoo is celebrating the birth of a rare giant panda. The baby bear was born Sunday to mother Yang Yang and father Long Hui. It’s their fourth cub. The zoo said Monday that its newest addition was just 4 inches long and weighed 3.5 ounces at birth. A spokeswoman for Tiergarten Schoenbrunn, the zoo’s official name, said no other European zoo had managed to successfully breed giant pandas by natural means.
AFGHANISTAN
Gunmen abduct American
Five gunmen wearing Afghan military uniforms have abducted an American and an Australian in Kabul, a security official said Monday. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the abduction. The two men were taken from their SUV while driving on Sunday night on a main road near the American University of Afghanistan, according to Sediq Sediqqi, spokesman for the Afghan Interior Ministry. They are believed to be employees of the university and were traveling between the university and their residence in Kabul, he said.
Compiled from wire reports