News in Brief (2-1-2019)

Counterterror police probe Manchester stabbing
LONDON, Jan 01: British counterterrorism police are questioning a man accused of stabbing three people at a Manchester railway station on New Year's Eve. Police said on Tuesday two people were taken to a hospital for treatment with knife injuries and a British Transport Police officer was stabbed in the shoulder and briefly hospitalised. He has since been released. — AP
Bashir orders probe into recent protests
CAIRO, Jan 01: Sudan's state news agency says President Omar al-Bashir has ordered an investigation into "recent events" in the country, a reference to two weeks of violent protests against his 29-year rule. The report, late on Monday, said al-Bashir tasked Justice Minister Mohammed Ahmed Salem with leading the probe committee, but gave no details on what exactly it would investigate. — AP
Germany adopts third gender identity
BERLIN, Jan 01: Intersex people in Germany can now legally identify themselves as a third gender, under a new law adopted in December. People who do not fit the biological definition of male or female can now choose the category "diverse" on official documents. Those choosing the option will need a doctor's certificate to register. — BBC
Egypt mulls changing constitution to ensure Sisi’s third term
CAIRO, Jan 01: Supporters of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi are calling for constitutional changes that would allow him to stay in power once his second term ends in 2022. Backers of the former military chief, re-elected in March with over 97 perc ent of the vote, want parliament to discuss repealing an article limiting presidents to two consecutive four-year terms. — AFP
Yemen rebels slam WFP for ‘rotten’ food aid
SANAA, Jan 01: Yemen's Huthi rebels on Tuesday rejected UN accusations of selling aid meant for civilians, slamming the World Food Programme (WFP) for sending "rotten food" to the war-torn country. The WFP, which plans to provide food to up to 12 million Yemenis a month in 2019, on Monday accused Huthi rebels of "criminal behaviour" and of selling food aid in markets in the rebel-held capital Sanaa. — AFP
US and Israel quit UN cultural agency
PARIS, Jan 01: The United States and Israel officially quit of the UN's educational, scientific and cultural agency at the stroke of midnight, the culmination of a process triggered more than a year ago amid concerns that the organization fosters anti-Israel bias. The withdrawal is mainly procedural yet serves a new blow to UNESCO, co-founded by the US after World War II to foster peace. The Trump administration filed its notice to withdraw in October 2017 and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu followed suit. — AP