Convictions for migrant boat sinking
A ship, overcrowded with more than 400 migrants, capsized and sank eight miles off the coast of Egypt in September killing some 300 people. An Egyptian court sentenced 56 people to prison on charges ranging from negligence to murder, with the longest sentence being 14 years, according to the BBC. Egypt is part of the Mediterranean Sea Route, a sort of shipping lane often taken by people leaving North Africa and the Middle East headed for Europe.
Mosul airbase taken by SDF
Last Wednesday soldiers of the Syrian Democratic Forces airdropped into IS held territory in the western half of the city to take the city’s airbase. The BBC reported early on Monday morning that the airbase was secured. This is a strategic victory, as the airbase can now be used to bring supplies and soldiers into Mosul as the SDF continue to take Mosul, as well as small cities between Mosul and Raqqa. The victory is also symbolic, as the airbase was the site of mass executions carried out by IS after they took the city in 2014.
Neo-Nazis on trial in France
Eighteen people are on trial in Amiens, facing 35 charges for offences that took place between 2012 and 2014, according to the BBC. The charges, which include attempted murder and armed violence, are being brought against France’s White Wolf Clan, a Neo-Nazi group led by Serge Ayoub. Ayoub has been on trial for similar activities before when his groups, the Third Way and Revolutionary Nationalist Youth, were ordered to disband in 2013 after involvement in a fight that led to the death of a Liberal activist. Most of the charges involve gang-related violence.
SK moves to arrest past-president
Park Geun-hye, former president of South Korea, was impeached earlier this month for her involvement in an extortion scheme, and now that she has officially lost her diplomatic immunity, a warrant is out for her arrest, according to the BBC. Reasons for the warrant include suspicion that she may damage evidence, such as computer hard-drives if she is not in custody, although her accomplice in the matter has already been sentenced.
