shameen

The US State Department has ordered “non-essential staff” to leave Sudan and Tunisia where anti-American protests have broken out over a film that allegedly insults Islam, a top official said.

“Given the security situation in Tunis and Khartoum, the State Department has ordered the departure of all family members and non-emergency personnel from both posts, and issued parallel travel warnings to American citizens,” Xinhua quoted State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland as saying.

Egyptian police Saturday cleared out protesters who have been clashing with security forces for the past four days near the US Embassy as most cities around the Muslim world reported calm a day after at least six people were killed in a wave of angry protests over a film deemed offensive to Islam.

Security forces erected a concrete wall blocking the main street leading to the embassy in Cairo after finally dispersing several hundred youths who had been battling with police, trying to get to the building.

They also cleared nearby Tahrir Square where protests were being held.

British lawmakers have unanimously voted to end “discrimination” against people suffering from mental illness, who will now be able to serve as members of Parliament, in juries and as company directors.

In a rare private members bill backed by the House of Commons, the practice of barring those who have suffered from severe mental health issues from serving on juries or as company directors has been repealed, the Telegraph newspaper reported.

MPs who have been institutionalised for psychiatric reasons for more than six months will no longer be forced to stand down from Parliament.

Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, who has “resurfaced” after disappearing from public view since Sep 1, will attend “some other important activities” at an ASEAN expo later this month.

The Ninth China-ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Expo will be held Sep 21- 25 in Nanning, capital of south China’s Guangxi Zhuang region, Xinhua reported Sunday.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei Sunday said Vice President Xi will attend the opening ceremony and “some other important activities”.

An Afghan local policeman killed four soldiers with the NATO military coalition in southern Afghanistan, the latest in a surge of insider attacks that are fracturing trust between Afghan forces and their international partners.

The shooting came a day after insurgents in the same region stormed a sprawling British base, killing two US Marines and wounding several other international troops in an attack inspired by a film deemed offensive to Islam and the presence on the compound of a high-profile target, Britain’s Prince Harry.

The UNSC has expressed deep concern over a series of attacks against Western embassies across the Arab world over a film deemed offensive to Islam, even as a top UN official asked people not to give publicity to the “malicious and deliberately provocative” movie.

In a press statement, the 15-nation Security Council condemned in the “strongest terms” the violent attacks on embassies and consular premises in Egypt, Sudan, Libya, Yemen and other countries that have left several people dead.

The European Union (EU) Friday condemned the attacks against German and British embassies in Khartoum.

“We condemn it in the strongest terms. This is unacceptable, and it is against all the rules of the civilized world. Nothing justifies these kinds of attacks,” Xinhua quoted European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso as saying.

Thousands of Sudanese protesters stormed the embassies of Germany and Britain in the Sudanese capital Friday, in protest against an anti-Islam film.