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World in Brief August 15 2018

PALESTINE: Israeli occupation forces eased their blockade of Gaza today, reopening the Kerem Shalom crossing after nearly two weeks of closure.

Tel Aviv also allowed a partial resumption of fishing in Palestine’s coastal waters, as Egypt tried to broker a lasting ceasefire.

Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman posted on Facebook that the reopening was "a clear message to residents of the Strip: quiet pays and violence doesn't pay."

 

PAKISTAN: Asad Qaiser, an MP from Imran Khan's Tahreek-e-Insaf party, was elected parliamentary speaker today, securing 176 votes against opposition candidate Khusheed Shah with 146.

The election indicates that Mr Khan has enough support to become prime minister despite lingering opposition allegations of election fraud.

The former Test cricket star is likely to become prime minister when the National Assembly votes tomorrow and to be sworn in on Saturday.

URUGUAY: Former president Jose Mujica has resigned his senatorial seat despite having the right to remain in parliament until 2020.

"I'd say it's exhaustion after the long journey," he explained on Tuesday.

The former Tupamaros guerilla leader, now 83, who was imprisoned for 13 years, insisted he was not retiring from politics, declaring: “I can't renounce solidarity and the fight for ideas.”

CHILE: The Supreme Court has jailed 24 Pinochet-era police officers for the 1974 demise of Jorge Arturo Grez Aburto after the US-backed overthrow of socialist president Salvador Allende.

Mr Grez Aburto, a member of the MIR armed resistance group, was detained by National Intelligence Directorate agents and tortured before being disappeared, presumably killed.

Their sentences range from four to 13 years and are not subject to appeal.

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