Wednesday, August 6, 2014
GAZA CEASEFIRE HOLDS FOR SECOND DAY
The Israel-Hamas ceasefire that began yesterday is still holding, ending at least temporarily a month of war in the Gaza Strip, Reuters reports. Negotiations for a more permanent truce between Israel and Hamas are expected to take place in Cairo in the coming days with the help of Egyptian mediators.
AP reports that among Hamas’ negotiating points is an internationally funded reconstruction plan that would be overseen by a Palestinian unity government led by President Mahmoud Abbas.
According to Haaretz, the month of fighting between Hamas and Israel has cost the two sides a combined $8 billion, with most of the damage in Gaza.
Israel has announced the arrest of Hossam Kawasmeh, a Palestinian suspected of leading the group that kidnapped and murdered three Israeli teenagers in June, AFP reports. The West Bank incident triggered an escalation of violence between Hamas and Israel. Kawasmeh told investigators that he received financial help from Hamas to recruit and arm the kidnappers.
SNAPSHOT
Dozens of commuters helped free a passenger whose leg was trapped between a train and a platform at Perth’s Stirling station this morning.
ROSETTA SPACECRAFT SUCCESS
Ten years after the European Space Agency (ESA) launched it from French Guiana, the spacecraft Rosetta is now in orbit around the comet affectionately known as “Chury.” Scientists in the Netherlands say this technical feat is a first, The Guardian reports. ESA tweeted “Hello, Comet!” in different languages this morning, as the probe — which cost 1 billion euros — arrived within 100 kilometers of the rubber-duck-shaped comet that is tearing through space at up to 83,000 miles an hour.
VERBATIM
“Poor bastard. The smack was too strong? Yeah. And he died.” British singer Marianne Faithfull told Mojo magazine that her drug-dealing ex-boyfriend was responsible for the accidental 1971 “killing” of Jim Morrison, who she claims died of a heroin overdose. Read more here.
LEBANON CEASEFIRE BREACHED
A 24-hour ceasefire between the Lebanese army and Islamist militants was breached this morning as machine gun fire and shelling broke out between both parties, Reuters reports. The truce came into force Tuesday and was intended to end five days of clashes that have killed dozens of people in what is the most serious spillover of the Syrian civil war into Lebanon. According to the Saudi Press Agency, Saudi Arabian King Abdullah has granted $1 billion to help the Lebanese army. Islamist militants have seized the town of Arsal on the Syrian border.
EMERGENCY EBOLA SUMMIT STARTS
A two-day Ebola crisis summit gathering experts from the World Health Organization opened today in Geneva, Switzerland. They are discussing new measures to tackle the outbreak of the deadly virus in West Africa and will ultimately decide whether to declare a global health emergency, the BBC reports. Nearly 900 people have died from the virus since February.
1.2 BILLION
In what is believed to be the largest ever theft of confidential Internet information, a Russian crime ring has been accused of stealing 1.2 billion passwords and 500 million email addresses. Read more here.
IKEA SLUMBER
The Telegraph knows just exactly how to make our day — with a photo galleryof Chinese IKEA shoppers asleep in the store’s room displays.
