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World in brief: March 27, 2020

MALI: Opposition leader Soumaila Cisse and 11 others are feared to have been kidnapped on the campaign trail, the Union for the Republic and Democracy (URD) said yesterday.

They have not been seen since Wednesday and were known to be in an area where Isis and al-Qaeda jihadists carry out frequent attacks.

URD vice-president Madani Timbuktu feared they were being held and said there was still “no news of Mr Cisse or his delegation.”

NEW ZEALAND: The man accused of deadly attacks on two mosques in Christchurch has pleaded guilty to 51 charges of murder, bringing relief that victim’s relatives will not have to endure a painful trial.

Brenton Tarrant yesterday also admitted to the attempted murder of another 40 people and to charges of terrorism. He had initially pleaded not guilty and was due to go on trial in June.

Sentencing will take place at a later date.

PALESTINE: Israeli forces destroyed a residential building along with water and electricity pumps yesterday while seizing tents and other equipment in the Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank.

Soldiers also confiscated construction materials for Ibziq village’s mosque, clinic and local administration buildings and caused damage to local farmland, village chief Abdul Majeed Khdeirat said.

The region has been earmarked for annexation under US President Donald Trump’s controversial Middle East “peace plan” unveiled earlier this year.

ARMENIA: Press-freedom groups have warned that the government has gone too far by clamping down on journalists and social-media users for spreading non-official information about the coronavirus during a state of emergency.

Police are reported to have visited homes demanding the removal of Facebook posts and warning against “causing a panic” among the population. News website Aravot claimed it was threatened with a fine and forced to edit a story claiming Russia was covering up the real level of the Covid-19 outbreak.

Reporters Without Borders condemned the government, saying that censorship does nothing to stop the spread of the pandemic.

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