Meanwhile, there were reports that an ANC member was shot dead in a meeting in Pretoria to pick ANC candidates. “South African rioters blocked roads, looted shops and burned vehicles on Tuesday in several areas of the country’s capital, Pretoria, in a show of anger over the selection of the ruling party’s mayoral candidate ahead of local elections. The violence raised concerns about security ahead of the Aug. 3 elections in South Africa, where periodic unrest over the lack of basic municipal services already stretches police in many poor communities. In the past year, violence and vandalism have also hit some universities and other schools as students protest high fees and voice other grievances…Some residents said they had not been adequately consulted over the selection of Thoko Didiza, a former Cabinet minister from the coastal city of Durban, as mayoral candidate for the African National Congress in local elections. They want incumbent Kgosientso Ramokgopa to stay, though Ramokgopa has backed Didiza as his replacement, according to the African News Agency. (ABC http://abcn.ws/28MWAyi)
A landmark ICC Sentencing…”Congolese politician Jean-Pierre Bemba was sentenced to 18 years in prison by the International Criminal Court on Tuesday for heading a 2002-03 campaign of rape and murder in neighbouring Central African Republic.Bemba, a former Democratic Republic of Congo vice-president, is the first person that the global war crimes court has held directly responsible for his subordinates’ crimes. (Reuters http://bit.ly/28Oq9yq)
Long Read of the day: World Refugee Week highlights the big conflicts around the world that force millions of people from their homes. But in the southeastern corner of Sudan a little-known struggle has succeeded in depopulating an entire region. A special report uses both words and video to tell of the impacts of the war in Blue Nile state. (IRIN http://bit.ly/28LMuMa)
Treat your children well…UNICEF is criticizing the living conditions of refugee children in Germany, saying they frequently lack proper medical care and access to schools for months. (AP http://yhoo.it/28QtcDC)
Stat of the day: Attacks on hospitals since Syria’s war broke out five years ago have left more than 700 doctors and medical workers dead, many of them in air strikes, UN investigators said Tuesday. (AFP http://yhoo.it/28LcOmj)
Africa
Ethiopia is contemplating full-scale war against Eritrea, an Eritrean official told the U.N. Human Rights Council on Tuesday, as he defended his country against allegations of crimes against humanity. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/28SSL8n)
The International Monetary Fund will increase loans to Malawi by $76.8 million, the global lender said following an economic review of the drought-hit country. (VOA http://bit.ly/28KAvgo)
Nigeria has agreed a one-month ceasefire with militants behind recent attacks on oil facilities in its southern Niger Delta, a petroleum ministry official said on Tuesday, as efforts continue to end the unrest that has pushed crude output to 30-year lows. (Reuters http://bit.ly/28KAt8i)
Drought-prone southern Madagascar is facing yet another food emergency this year. An unusually strong El Niño season means the rains have failed once more. Prices in local markets have skyrocketed, leaving more than 665,000 people in urgent need of food aid. (IRIN http://bit.ly/28Qutuu)
Sixteen people have been killed in two days of clashes between Fulani herdsmen and the mainly Muslim Seleka militia in the Central African Republic, police said on Tuesday. (AFP http://yhoo.it/28KAuck)
Pressure from big producers, recent low yields and wild price fluctuations are making life unsustainable for the Madagascar’s small-scale growers. (Guardian http://bit.ly/28LcQe2)
A Kenyan government driver was killed near the border with Somalia when his vehicle hit a mine planted by the Islamist group al Shabaab, a government official said. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/28KAMzU)
MENA
Jordan’s army chief of staff announced on Tuesday that the country’s northern and northeastern borders with Syria were closed military zones, according to an army statement. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/28NutNL)
The U.N. envoy for Syria is expressing concern about a new trend: President Bashar Assad’s government allows humanitarian aid into besieged cities and towns, and those same areas get shelled either before or after the convoys arrive. (AP http://yhoo.it/28SUQBg)
Only a third of Fallujah has been “cleared” of Islamic State militants, the U.S.-led coalition said Tuesday, days after the Iraqi government declared victory in the city west of Baghdad, which was held by the extremists for more than two years. (AP http://yhoo.it/28NuIbH)
The office of the U.N. human rights chief is decrying an “intensified crackdown” on freedoms and rights in Bahrain after the country’s top Shiite cleric was stripped of his nationality and is urging authorities to “de-escalate” the situation. (AP http://yhoo.it/28Oq91o)
Asia
A Malaysian opposition politician who had campaigned for indigenous land rights was shot dead on Tuesday. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/28Ntvkx)
A leading Islamic group in Bangladesh has issued a fatwa condemning terrorism and militancy, including violent attacks on non-Muslims and secular writers and activists, as “Haraam,” or forbidden and un-Islamic. (VOA http://bit.ly/28KAxFp)
Myanmar officials must refer to the oppressed Rohingya Muslim minority as “people who believe in Islam” rather than by their name, according to a letter seen by AFP Tuesday, as a UN rights envoy prepares to visit the benighted group. (AFP http://yhoo.it/28Nurpf)
The Americas
Chile’s public prosecutor said on Tuesday it was investigating a former high-ranking cabinet official in President Michelle Bachelet’s government for bribery and tax offenses related to counsel provided to London-listed mining company Antofagasta Minerals. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/28Lc4xu)
Marcelo Odebrecht, the former chief executive of Latin America’s largest construction company, will admit in plea bargain testimony that he personally oversaw illegal campaign donations for suspended Brazil President Dilma Rousseff in 2010 and 2014, newspaper Folha de S. Paulo said on Tuesday. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/28LK3Hd)
The Mexican government and representatives of a dissident teachers’ union agreed Tuesday to hold talks after weekend clashes in which eight people were killed and more than 100 were injured. (AP http://yhoo.it/28N8UPj)
The killing of three foreigners the past two weeks in Medellin is causing alarm in Colombia’s second-largest city as it struggles to leave behind its reputation as the one-time murder capital of the world. (AP http://yhoo.it/28LbXSJ)
Veteran U.S. diplomat Tom Shannon will meet with senior Venezuelan government and opposition officials in Caracas on Tuesday, a week after Secretary of State John Kerry announced he wanted to ease tensions between the two countries. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/28SUVVv)
Rio de Janeiro’s largest public hospital and one of the five designated to treat tourists during the upcoming Summer Olympic Games was attacked by armed gunmen during the weekend, leaving one person dead and two injured. The attack deals another blow to a city struggling to show it’s ready to host the games. (CNN http://cnn.it/28NuEsq)
…and the rest
Hungarian prosecutors have opened an investigation into whether police can be held criminally responsible for abuse over the death of a Syrian migrant who drowned in the Tisza river as he was trying to cross into Hungary from Serbia this month. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/28SSTVx)
A global action plan to empower women economically by 2030 will focus on six areas, including addressing legislation that blocks women’s progress, the head of UN Women says. (Guardian http://bit.ly/28LQJHE)
Opinion/Blogs
“We are losing our lives sitting here.” Two Thousand Refugees Are Trapped on a Tiny Greek Island (UN Dispatch http://bit.ly/28KW6EN)
Trust Deficit at the Red Cross (NY Times http://nyti.ms/28SHlRX)
What is Missing on the Global Health Front? (IPS http://bit.ly/28SMtWe)
Why is the Bolivian government turning water cannon on disabled protesters? (Guardian http://bit.ly/28LcVhv)
A long-term approach to support communities in conflict zones (Devex http://bit.ly/28LhRTz)
The unsung human right: a woman’s control over her fertility (Guardian http://bit.ly/28LhXuw)
Increased Backlash over EU Plan to Work with Sudan Government on Refugees (Enough http://bit.ly/28NzRjW)
NPR Reporter Exposes Charity’s Failings (Tiny Spark http://bit.ly/28NAdHc)
Hold Your Horses, ICC Complementarity (Justice in Conflict http://bit.ly/28QAIhU)
Can a roll of the dice help communities prepare for climate uncertainty? (Devex http://bit.ly/28LUxbJ)
Why do people flee their homes? The answers may surprise you (From Poverty to Power http://bit.ly/28KFqOx)