Global Week in Review: Malian ‘Hero’ of Paris Attack Awarded French Nationality
Thousands of Peruvians protest new labor rights, plus more.
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Malian ‘Hero’ of Paris Attack Awarded French Nationality - Thousands of young Peruvians protest against the amendment of several labor rights, plus more. — Patrice PeckLassana Bathily, the Mailan supermarket worker heralded for helping hostages during last week’s Paris attacks, recently received French nationality in honor of his “bravery," AFP reports. Deemed a “hero,” the 24-year-old practicing Muslim guided a group of trapped customers into a cold storage room, turned off the refrigeration system and closed the frightened people inside for protection. He then escaped the market through its delivery lift, found police officers and gave them crucial information on the layout of the store that was “vital to the assault that ended the siege.” "We're brothers. It's not a question of Jews, Christians or Muslims," Bathily told a local TV reporter. "W...
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U.S. Eases Cuba Travel, Trade Restrictions - New travel and trade regulations between Cuba and the United States have been implemented, which will "immediately enable the American people to provide more resources to empower the Cuban population to become less dependent upon the state-driven economy,” according to White House press secretary Josh Earnest. Included in those measures are permission for U.S. citizens to use credit cards in Cuba and to take home up to $100 in alcohol and tobacco. BBC News reports that “ordinary tourism” is still banned, but the new regulations permits U.S. citizens to travel to Cuba “for any of a dozen specific reasons without first obtaining a special license from the government."(Photo: Desmond Boylan/AP Photo)
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Young Peruvians’ Labor Rights Demonstrations Turn Violent - On Thursday night, thousands of young Peruvians demonstrated in at least 11 cities to protest a new law that revokes some of the labor rights of workers between ages 18 and 24, including not receiving severance pay, AP reports. As the demonstrations turned deadly, more than 5,000 people in Lima fought with police who hurled tear gas. Civilian injuries have not been reported, but 16 officers were injured, one seriously, and at least 20 people arrested.(Photo: Martin Mejia/AP Photo)
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Haiti's New Prime Minister Met with Instability, Protests - Haiti’s new Prime Minister Evan Pauls made headlines this week for taking office without a sitting parliament amid a political standoff, AP reports. President Michel Martelly — who is controversially ruling by decree — nominated Paul for the head position, but neither the Senate nor Chamber of Deputies has confirmed him. At the same time, opposition activists continue to hold "violent" anti-goverment street protests to see Martelly’s departure, claiming he is a “dictator.”(Photo: Dieu Nalio Chery/AP Photo)
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Deadly Flash Flooding Hits Malawi and Mozambique - Malawi's president, Peter Mutharika, has declared nearly one-third of the impoverished country a disaster zone after flash flooding killed scores of people, Al Jazeera reports. At least 176 people were killed and tens of thousands displaced. Homes, crops and livestock were reportedly swept away in the heavy flooding, which left some homes completely underwater. According to Elina Kululanga, Malawi's director of meteorological services and climate change, flooding started last month and heavy rain is expected to continue. President Mutharika is appealing to the international community for assistance for the East African country. The floods have also wreaked havoc in neighboring Mozambique, where a group of 25 school children were swept away on Monday and 18 others were reported missing.(Photo: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
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Nigerian Archbishop Says West Is Ignoring Boko Haram Attack - Western nations have been called out by a wide range of critics this week for ignoring the threat of Boko Haram and the militant Islamic group's recent massacre that reportedly killed 2,000 people. Ignatius Kaigama, the Catholic Archbishop of Jos, in central Nigeria, is the latest to accuse the West, the BBC reports. In the BBC's Newsday program, Kaigama urged the international community to show the same "spirit and resolve" it had done after the attacks in France. (Photo: AP Photo/Adamu Adamu)
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Pope Francis Tours Asia - Pope Francis recently kicked off a week-long tour of Asia, aiming to grow the Roman Catholic Church’s following "on a continent that holds 60 percent of the world's population but only 12 percent of Catholics,” NPR reports. Thus far, Pope Francis has named the first Sri Lankan saint. Priest Joseph Vaz was canonized on Wednesday during a seaside ceremony attended by thousands of people. (Photo: AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
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LRA Commander to Be Tried by ICC - According to the Associated Press, Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebel commander Dominic Ongwen will be brought by Uganda's military to the International Criminal Court in The Hague for trial. Ongwen has reportedly been charged with seven counts of alleged individual criminal responsibility, such as crimes against humanity, enslavement, murder and inhumane acts of inflicting serious bodily injury. Led by Joseph Kony and considered a terrorist group by many, the LRA is a militant movement that began in the 1980s as a tribal uprising.(Photo: ISAAC KASAMANI/AFP/Getty Images)
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Actors Address Lack of Coverage for Nigerian Terror Attack - A number of people have critiqued the lack of media coverage given to a recent Islamic militant attack in Nigeria that reportedly left 2,000 dead, in comparison to the wide coverage of last week’s terror attacks in France. Real Husbands of Hollywood star Boris Kodjoe, actor Marlon Wayans and others expressed similar sentiments on social media. "The killing of 17 victims in 3 despicable terrorist acts this week prompted a unity march of 1.5 million people including 40 world leaders in Paris,” Kodjoe wrote. "Well done. Maybe it's just me but did anyone else hear about Nigeria?” ... "Any world leaders planning a trip to Lagos or Abuja this week? Too busy? Bad flight connections? Just asking."(Photo: Chelsea Lauren/Getty Images for BET)
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France Deploys 10,000 Troops to Find Attack Accomplices - Ten thousand French troops have been ordered into "sensitive sites" to hunt for accomplices to the Islamic militants who killed 17 people during a three-day-long attack, AP reports. About 4,700 of those security forces will be assigned to protect the nation's 717 Jewish Schools. "A little girl was telling me earlier that she wanted to live in peace and learn in peace in her school," Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve told the AP. "That's what the government, that's what the Republic, owes to all the children in France: security in all schools, especially in the schools that could be threatened."(Photo: AP Photo/Jacques Brinon)
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