News in Brief- (22-10-2018)

Israel postpones West
Bank village demolition
JERUSALEM, Oct 21: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has frozen plans to demolish a strategically located Bedouin village in the occupied West Bank that has drawn the world's attention, his office said on Sunday. "The intention is to give a chance to the negotiations and the offers we received from different bodies, including in recent days," a statement from Netanyahu's office said about Khan al-Ahmar. Israeli authorities say the small village, located east of Jerusalem along a road leading to the Dead Sea, was built illegally, and had given resident until the beginning of October to evict themselves and demolish the structures. — AFP
Gunmen kill nine in Philippines
BACOLOD, Oct 21: Gunmen killed nine members of a farmers' group who occupied part of a privately owned sugarcane plantation in a central Philippine province, police said Sunday. The victims were resting in a hut Saturday night when about 10 gunmen opened fire, police said. At least four farmers survived the attack at the plantation in Sagay city in Negros Occidental province, which has a history of bloody land feuds. — AP
Birth of new Ukrainian church
brings fears of violence
KIEV, Oct 21: Tensions are escalating in Ukraine as it prepares to establish a full-fledged Orthodox church of its own. The planned religious rupture from the Russian Orthodox Church is a potent - possibly explosive - mix of politics, religious faith and national identity. The imminent creation of the new Ukrainian church raises deep concerns about what will happen to the approximately 12,000 churches in Ukraine. — AP
DRC rebels kill 13, abduct children
BRAZZAVILLE, Oct 21: The Allied Democratic Forces rebels attacked Congolese army positions and several neighbourhoods of Beni. Congolese rebels have killed 13 civilians and abducted a dozen children in an attack at the centre of the latest deadly Ebola outbreak, the Democratic Republic of the Congo's (DRC) military said. — Al Jazeera