South Sudan govt troops 'baked 50 people to death'

ADDIS ABABA (Ethiopia) • South Sudan government troops killed about 50 people by stuffing them into a shipping container in baking heat, according to ceasefire monitors in a report noting the latest atrocities in two years of war. Despite an August peace deal, fighting continues, and the conflict now involves multiple militia forces who pay little heed to peace deals, but are driven by local agendas or revenge attacks.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Video shows Russian opposition leader in crosshairs of rifle

MOSCOW • One of Russian President Vladimir Putin's most loyal allies has stirred fear among Kremlin critics by releasing a video showing opposition leader Mikhail Kasyanov in the crosshairs of a sniper's rifle.

The video, released on social media by Mr Ramzan Kadyrov, the Kremlin-backed leader of Chechnya, follows weeks of increasingly hostile rhetoric towards the liberal opposition from the former rebel fighter, who has called Mr Putin's opponents "enemies of the people" who deserve to be tried for sabotage.

REUTERS

Israel okays prayer space for non-Orthodox Jews

JERUSALEM • After years of rancour over rituals at the Western Wall, one of the holiest sites in Judaism, the Israeli government on Sunday approved the creation of an upgraded egalitarian prayer space there for non-Orthodox Jews. The Cabinet decision was hailed as "historic" by American Jewish leaders who had long chafed at the strictly Orthodox control over the site. It was also viewed as a victory for Women of the Wall, a group of Israeli and diaspora Jews that has championed the struggle against the male-dominated establishment for 27 years.

NEW YORK TIMES