Krista's Current News

Afghanistan: Gunmen attack Kabul military academy A military academy in the Afghan capital, Kabul, has come under attack leaving at least two soldiers dead, days after more than 100 people were killed in an explosion near the interior ministry building. A presidential spokesman said on Monday that the gunmen did not manage to get inside the Marshal Fahim National Defense University - the third major attack in Kabul in the past two weeks. The attack on Monday was claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) via the group's Amaq website. In addition to the two dead soldiers, at least 10 soldiers were wounded, officials said, while four attackers were killed and one was arrested. The assault is continuing at a police battalion next to the academy, officials said. Monday's attack comes as Kabul residents are grieving over the suicide bombing on Saturday in the city centre, which killed more than 100 people and left 191 peo...

Pope Francis has apologised for remarks he made last week in Chile defending a bishop accused of covering up sexual abuse. He said he realised his words hurt many, but repeated his belief that Chilean Bishop Juan Barros was innocent. Francis was speaking to journalists on board a plane flying back to Rome. On Thursday, he had said that victims who had accused Bishop Barros were committing slander. The Pope was openly criticised by Cardinal Sean O'Malley of Boston, who said he left victims of sexual abuse committed by priests feeling abandoned. "I apologise to them if I hurt them without realising it, but it was a wound that I inflicted without meaning to," said the Pope on Monday, quoted by Reuters news agency. "It pains me very much." A rare apology Analysis by James Reynolds, BBC Rome correspondent It is unusual for a Pope to apologise for his own words. But he clearly felt that he had to make up for his abrupt dismissal of allegations made ...

Key powers involved in Syria's civil war have criticised US plans to help an allied Kurdish-led militia set up a 30,000-strong "border security force". Turkey's president vowed to "suffocate" efforts to begin training members of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and create what he called a "terror army". Ankara considers Kurds fighting for the SDF to be part of a terrorist group. Syria's government decried the "blatant attack" on its sovereignty, and Russia warned it could lead to partition. With the help of air strikes from a US-led coalition, the SDF has captured tens of thousands of square kilometres of territory from Islamic State (IS) militants. In October, the alliance took full control of the northern city of Raqqa, the de facto capital of the "caliphate" declared by the jihadist group in 2014. Since then, SDF fighters have been advancing south-eastwards along the Euphrates river valley. Why is the US cr...

The remains of some 100 German soldiers have been found during excavation works for the construction of a memorial in Estonia's capital Tallinn. The site is believed to be part of a German military cemetery from World War Two. Experts say the bodies were buried separately and not in a mass grave. Archaeologists will remove the remains which will be reburied at a nearby German military cemetery. The new memorial is being dedicated to victims of communism. Between 3,000 and 4,000 German soldiers and officers were buried in the area during World War Two, said Peep Reisser, counsellor at the Estonian War Museum, which is overseeing the construction. "Probably it's just the corner of the old cemetery so we can't say if more remains will be found," he told the BBC. Work at the site of the discovery has been interrupted and archaeologists will search the area. Some 30,000 German soldiers and officers - who fought Soviet soldiers - were buried in Estonia du...

Breakaway Somaliland hold its third presidential poll Residents of the self-proclaimed state of Somaliland voted Monday in its third presidential poll, hoping to prove its democratic credentials and strengthen the case for independence from troubled Somalia. The northern territory, which is more tribally homogenous and stable than the rest of Somalia, broke away in 1991 and has been striving to attain international recognition ever since. Three candidates are running for the state's top office, seasoned politicians Muse Bihi of the ruling Kulmiye party and opposition candidates Abdirahman Iro and Faysal Ali Warabe, who was defeated in previous elections in 2010. "The procedure started peacefully this morning and we are confident that this election is going to be a milestone for the entire region," said Iro as he voted. FIVE YEARS Elections are meant to be held every five years, however the poll was delayed for two years due to drought and other tech...

Deaths, displacement as battle for CAR continues At least 25 people have been killed in a series of clashes between armed groups over one week in escalating violence in the Central African Republic (CAR). The UN said on Tuesday that thousands of people continue to be uprooted and forced to flee for their lives in resurgent fighting between rival factions in various parts of the country. In its weekly report released on Tuesday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that preliminary estimates indicate at least 10 people were killed and 50 others wounded in fighting between rival factions in the central town of Bria between September 7-8. In Yokapi, a village in the country's east, around 15 people were killed and some 80 houses torched in a violent confrontation between two communities, OCHA added. OCHA's reported death toll is in addition to at least six people killed since last Thursday in Batangafo, a northwestern town whe...

Kenya election re-run marred by insecurity - diplomats Western diplomats have warned of "growing insecurity" in Kenya ahead of Thursday's presidential election re-run, boycotted by the main opposition. Inflammatory rhetoric and attacks on the election commission made it more difficult to hold a legitimate poll, the 20 envoys said. Kenyan prosecutors said opposition leader Raila Odinga's sister would be charged with inciting violence. Mr Odinga has vowed to disrupt Thursday's poll with a mass protest. He says the vote cannot be held before key reforms, including the sacking of Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) officials, are implemented. About 70 people have been killed in violence since the IEBC declared President Uhuru Kenyatta the winner of elections on 8 August. The Supreme Court of Appeal annulled his victory, saying the poll was marred by irregularities and illegalities. And Mr Odinga says nothing has changed since. ...