The Ethiopian government says it has freed a leading opposition politician after more than a year in detention. The release of Merera Gudina, the head of the Oromiya federalist congress came as part of efforts toward national reconciliation. On Monday, the authority said they dropped charges against 500 people.
Police in Myanmar have opened fire on a crowd of Buddhists in the state of Rakhine, killing 7 people. Thousands of ethnic Rakhine people also known as Arakanese have gathered for an annual ceremony, marking the end of the Arakan Kingdom.
The Catalan parliament opens today for the first time since the original government was dismissed in October last year for attempting to break away from Spain. Pro-independence party sworn to reestablish a coalition government following elections in December.
It’s emerged President Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon refused to answer questions in congress during a hearing on Tuesday over alleged Russian links to the Trump campaign. Mr. Bannon’s lawyer said his client was under instructions from the White House not to respond certain topics.
The authorities in Pakistan have deployed thousands of paramilitary troops and police as opposition’s supporters gathered for an anti-government rally in the city of Lahore.
A Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong has been jailed for three months for obstructing the clearance of a protest campaign in 2014. This is a second time he has been sentenced to prison for his party in demonstrations. His lawyers say he will appeal against the verdict.
And the medical authorities in Uganda have warned that blood transfusion supplies in the country are critically low. The blood bank facility in the capital Kampala is reported to be practically empty with only about a hundred units of blood available rather than a thousand plus units required every day.
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