The European Union will prepare economic sanctions on the Democratic Republic of the Congo unless it holds its delayed presidential and parliamentary elections next year, foreign ministers agreed on Monday. President Joseph Kabila was due to leave office at the end of his mandate in December but authorities have postponed the votes until April 2018, citing logistical problems. The delay sparked two days of protests in the capital Kinshasa last month that killed dozens of people. EU foreign ministers said in a statement: “The EU will use all the means at its disposal, including individual restrictive measures” – diplomatic language for travel bans and asset freezes. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/2eav3qC)
Humanity-affirming story of the day: Khaled Almilaji coordinated a campaign that vaccinated 1.4 million Syrian children and risked his life to provide medical care during the country’s civil war. Now he’s in the Ivy League, learning about how to rebuild Syria’s health system when the war finally ends. (AP http://yhoo.it/2dZR10s)
Africa
A team of prosecutors from the world’s permanent war crimes court began a five-day trip to the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Sunday to urge restraint after a wave of pre-election violence in the capital, a statement said. (Reuters http://bit.ly/2eol5RI)
A U.S. aid worker kidnapped in Niger is likely being held by jihadists from the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (Mujao), the country’s interior minister said Sunday. (France 24 http://f24.my/2dJE3ku)
South African protesters demanding free university education broke windows, forced open doors and threw human excrement in an effort to disrupt the resumption of classes, said a university official. (VOA http://bit.ly/2dZQFXt)
The U.N.’s top court Monday opened three days of hearings into a plea by Equatorial Guinea to order France to suspend a corruption case against its vice president. (AFP http://yhoo.it/2emwvUJ)
Ethiopia has banned access to foreign-based opposition media and restricted foreign diplomats’ travel, in new provisions of a state of emergency. (AFP http://yhoo.it/2eyNhFf)
An attempt by Ghana’s ruling party to make fun of the main opposition candidate in the presidential election by posting a photograph of him sipping from a small carton of Kalyppo fruit juice has backfired, with his supporters adopting the brand to rally support. (Reuters http://bit.ly/2emAyQO)
Somali security forces shut down a newspaper and arrested an editor, the Somali journalists’ union said on Sunday, the latest crackdown in what reporters say is a climate of intimidation. (Reuters http://bit.ly/2emzoou)
MENA
Rights activists in Jordan called Monday for stiffer punishment for violence in the family, after four women and a man were killed in “honor crimes” in just over a week. (AP http://yhoo.it/2eol1Bg)
Saudi Arabia is prepared to agree to a cease-fire in Yemen if the Iran-allied Houthis agree, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said on Monday, adding that he was skeptical about efforts for peace after previous cease-fire attempts had failed. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/2dvBGnT)
Egypt passed legislation on Monday to crack down on people traffickers linked to a major surge in the numbers of migrants departing from the country’s Mediterranean coast on often disastrous sea journeys to Europe. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/2eojMlJ)
A top court in Bahrain on Monday overturned a nine-year jail term against Shiite opposition chief cleric Ali Salman, convicted of inciting hatred and calling for forceful regime change. (AFP http://yhoo.it/2dWwmsQ)
Dozens of civilians including 12 from the same family were killed Monday in heavy bombardment of east Aleppo despite Western warnings of sanctions against Syria’s regime over attacks on the city. (AFP http://yhoo.it/2emCIQz)
Five years after an uprising killed Libya’s Moamer Kadhafi, residents in the chaos-wracked country’s capital joke they have grown to miss the longtime dictator as the frustrations of daily life mount. (AFP http://yhoo.it/2dvB3us)
A state-owned newspaper in the United Arab Emirates is reporting that hundreds of Emirati doctors set to begin their residencies have gone unpaid amid signs of growing financial trouble in the oil-producing nation. (AP http://yhoo.it/2dvEyB7)
The European Union urged Russia to bring about a swift end to the bombing of Aleppo in Syria but refrained from imposing any sanctions on Moscow even though it said the attacks on the city could amount to war crimes. (AP http://yhoo.it/2dvCuZV)
Asia
A former senior Chinese energy official found to have more than $29.99 million in cash at his home has been given a suspended death penalty after being found guilty of corruption, state news agency Xinhua said on Monday. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/2dZQThA)
It is hailed as India’s granary, but the northwestern state of Punjab faces a drastic decline in agricultural output unless it halts the rapid depletion of its groundwater, experts warn. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/2dvFCVv)
The Americas
Facing sinking poll numbers and accusations of sexual assault, Donald Trump doubled down Monday on charges that the presidential campaign is being rigged, warning of “large scale voter fraud” in the U.S. election. (AFP http://yhoo.it/2eyNlot)
…and the rest
Farmers urgently need help to adapt their methods of growing food if the world is to curb greenhouse gas emissions and prevent climate change pushing millions into hunger and poverty, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said on Monday. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/2dvAel6)
Fourteen children left a border refugee camp in northern France on Monday to be settled with relatives in Britain — the first of dozens of children from the Calais encampment expected to come to the country this week. (AP http://yhoo.it/2eyNsA4)
Opinion/Blogs
Better known Antonio Guterres, your next UN Secretary General. (Global Dispatches podcast http://bit.ly/2dJBAXi)
New climate deal hailed as ‘monumental’ despite some doubts of impact (Humanosphere http://buff.ly/2dWx4q2)
Indigenous Land Rights Bring Economic, not just Environmental Benefits (IPS http://bit.ly/2dvwCiY)
World Leaders Must Act Fast to Keep Promise to End Child Deaths By 2030 (TRF http://bit.ly/2eyGXxi)
The African Myth of ‘Interference in Internal Affairs’ (DW http://bit.ly/2dWnp2M)
How should sexual violence be reported by humanitarian organisations? (Guardian http://bit.ly/2dvwlNd)
What are the humanitarian needs in wake of Mosul offensive? (TRF http://yhoo.it/2dvy0Cy)
How the food we eat makes climate change worse (Reuters http://yhoo.it/2dZPXd5)
Congo’s South Sudan rebel problem (IRIN http://bit.ly/2dZPaZr)
