CurrentEye

A government source with knowledge of the talks confirmed that a delegation from the Kachin Independence Army met negotiators in the Chinese border town of Ruili on Thursday to try to thrash out truce terms and end fighting that has displaced an estimated 50,000 people since June 2011. 

A deal with the Kachins would clear a major hurdle for the new civilian government in its drive towards “everlasting peace” after decades of stop-start fighting in the ethnically diverse, resource-rich country. 

Western nations have made a successful peace process with separatist groups operating in the country one of their main demands for lifting sanctions.

Al Jazeera English: Myanmar holds peace talks with Kachin rebels

The British charity said tens of thousands of people in the Sahel region of west and central Africa could die in the coming months if the international community did not distribute much needed aid immediately.

The charity said western governments and aid agencies risked making the mistakes of last year in the Horn of Africa, where the famine may have been far less severe had there been a swifter response to the crisis as it developed.

Read more at The Telegraph

While restrictions imposed by the Syrian government on reporting inside the country do make it difficult to verify the authenticity of claims by activists, other television networks, like the BBC, have managed to send reporters to Homs and other besieged towns to gather information and report on the situation firsthand. The coverage of the conflict on Press TV and Russia Today, by contrast, relies so heavily on interviews with correspondents seated in studios in Damascus — whose information varies little, if at all, from that on Syrian state television — that it often seems closer to ideologically driven punditry than impartial news gathering.

Though officials had been concerned that the decision would anger the many Yemenis eager to see Mr. Saleh prosecuted for the bloody clashes between security forces and protesters, they decided that giving Mr. Saleh a way out of Yemen, even temporarily, could help smooth the way to elections next year and perhaps end a political crisis that has brought the government of the impoverished nation to the brink of collapse.

“The main goal is to remove him physically from Yemen so there’s no way he can meddle in the political process there,” [an] official said. “Getting him medical treatment seemed a logical way to do this.”

The vast majority of the bodies were found in the cities of Iligan and Cagayan de Oro, according to military officials and the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. Five people were killed in a landslide, but all others died in flash flooding.

Flash floods sparked by a tropical storm in the southern Philippines have killed at least 180 people and left scores missing, officials say.

Many of the victims were asleep when it struck Mindanao island, killing many in Iligan City and Cagayan de Oro.

Tens of thousands of people have fled to higher ground, the authorities say.

Benito Ramos, head of the national disaster rescue agency, said reports were still coming in and the casualty figures could rise.

Mr Ramos said the floodwaters had risen alarmingly fast overnight as people slept.

“Massive flooding had been reported over the region, especially in Iligan City and Cagayan de Oro City,” he said

Many people in Cagayan de Oro were trapped in their homes as floods rose rapidly

(Source: currenteye)

Flash floods sparked by a tropical storm in the southern Philippines have killed at least 180 people and left scores missing, officials say.

Many of the victims were asleep when it struck Mindanao island, killing many in Iligan City and Cagayan de Oro.

Tens of thousands of people have fled to higher ground, the authorities say.

Benito Ramos, head of the national disaster rescue agency, said reports were still coming in and the casualty figures could rise.

Mr Ramos said the floodwaters had risen alarmingly fast overnight as people slept.

“Massive flooding had been reported over the region, especially in Iligan City and Cagayan de Oro City,” he said

Many people in Cagayan de Oro were trapped in their homes as floods rose rapidly

More teens are turning to pot and see it as less of a risk at the same time alcohol use among the same age group has dipped to historic lows, according to an annual national survey of drug use released Wednesday.

While the U.S. grants most of its green cards on the basis of family connections, Cala says Canada actively seeks out immigrants who can bring money, high-tech skills or new businesses to boost the economy.

As Europe works to solve its financial problems, closer to home - and with a little less fanfare - America’s biggest trading partner is thriving. Canada has built an impressive track record throughout the recession. It’s got low unemployment, little government debt, and some of the healthiest economic growth in the industrialized world. Brian Mann traveled to Toronto for WBEZ’s Chicago’s Front and Center project, and has this story.

Human rights group describes execution as “truly appalling” and notes steep rise in country’s use of capital punishment.

Al Jazeera English and agencies:

A Saudi woman has been beheaded after being convicted of practising sorcery, which is banned in the conservative Gulf kingdom, the country’s interior ministry said.

The ministry gave no further details of the charges for which the woman was convicted.

London-based newspaper al-Hayat quoted a member of the Saudi religious police as saying Nasser was in her 60s. The official claimed she had tricked people into giving her money, claiming that she could cure their illnesses.

According to the report, she apparently charged up to $800 a session.

Amnesty International said the beheading brought the number of executions in the kingdom to 73 this year. Another woman was beheaded in October for killing her husband by setting his house on fire. 

There are no available statistics on how many women have been executed in Saudi Arabia.

Congress in the Philippines has voted to impeach the country’s Chief Justice Renato Corona for allegedly betraying public trust.

He will be put on trial before the Philippine Senate next year.

Mr Corona has been accused of showing bias towards the country’s former president, Gloria Arroyo, who originally appointed him and is now facing charges of electoral fraud.

The chief justice denies violating the constitution.

Mr Corona’s appointment by Mrs Arroyo was controversial from the start.

It happened weeks before she left office in June 2010 and was immediately questioned by her successor, current President Benigno Aquino.

Mr Aquino has since accused the chief judge of repaying his appointment by trying to block efforts to investigate corruption allegations against Mrs Arroyo.