GK NEWSLETTER - ISSUE XXIII - 13th April, 2015
Islamic State group releases over 200 captive Iraqi Yazidis.
The Islamic State group released more than 200 Yazidis on 8th April, after holding them for eight months,
the latest mass release of captives by the extremists targeted by U.S.-led airstrikes and an Iraqi ground
offensive.
Gen. Hiwa Abdullah, a peshmerga commander in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, said most of the freed
216 prisoners were in poor health and bore signs of abuse and neglect. He added that about 40 children
are among those released, while the rest were elderly.
No reason was given for the release of the prisoners who were originally abducted from the area around
Sinjar in the country's north.
Read more: http://www.iraqinews.com/iraq-war/isis-militants-release-216-yazidi-captives/
Kenya tells UN to close Dadaab camp after Garissa attack.
On 2nd April, 2015, Somali militants from the al-Shabab Islamist movement attacked a college in the
Kenyan town of Garissa, killing 148 students. As a response to this, Kenya's Deputy President William
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Ruto has called on the United Nations to close the Dadaab refugee camp and relocate more than 5,00,000
Somalis. The Kenyan government believes that Islamist militants may be hiding out in Dadaab.
Dadaab, near the border with Somalia, is the largest refugee camp in Africa. It was set up in 1991 to
house families fleeing conflict in Somalia.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/reuters/article-3034894/Kenya-orders-U-N-massive-Somalirefugee-camp-attack.html
Cities throughout Brazil protest against President Rousseff.
Anti-government demonstrators began streaming into the streets of cities throughout Brazil on 12th April,
2015 to demand the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff.
It was the second such day of protests in less than a month and comes as polls show Rousseff entering
the fourth month of her second term in office with historically low approval ratings amid a massive corruption
scandal at the state-run oil company, Petrobras, as well as a spluttering economy, a rapidly depreciating
currency and political infighting.
Read more: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/04/protesters-brazil-seek-ouster-president150412180525479.html
Barack Obama and Raul Castro meet, launch new era of U.S.-Cuba ties.
Ending a decades-long standstill in U.S.-Cuba relations, President Barack Obama met with his Cuban
counterpart Raul Castro, the first time the two nations' top leaders have sat down for substantive talks in
more than 50 years.
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The meeting on the sidelines of the Summit of the Americas came as the two countries work to end the
Cold War enmity that had led to a total freeze of diplomatic ties. And while both leaders proclaimed
progress had been made, a key stumbling block - Cuba's place on the U.S. list of countries that sponsor
terror - remained unresolved.
Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/11/barack-obama-raul-castro-meeting_n_7047116.html?ir=India
Sania Mirza Becomes World No.1 in Doubles Tennis.
Sania Mirza has created history by becoming the first female tennis player from India to achieve the
world number one rank in doubles, following her stupendous title win at the WTA Family Circle Cup with
partner Martina Hingis.
The top-seeded Indo-Swiss pair blew away the challenge of Casey Dellacqua and Darija Jurak in just 57
minutes in the lop-sided final of the clay court event.
Sania is also first female player from the country to win Grand Slam tournaments.
Read more: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/sania-mirza-world-no.-1-doubles-rankings-tennis/1/
429767.html
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