ATHENS, Greece – A magnitude-5.2 earthquake has rattled Greece’s capital overnight but it is not immediately clear whether the event caused any damage or injuries. The Geodynamic Institute in Athens said the quake occurred at 4:09 a.m. (0109 GMT) Tuesday in the Gulf of Northern Evia, about 80 kilometers (50 …
Read More »Spanish lawmakers expected to give final approval for Sephardic Jew citizenship plan
MADRID – Lawmakers in Spain’s lower house of Parliament are expected to give final approval to a law setting up a path toward citizenship for descendants of Jews forced to flee the country five centuries ago during the Inquisition. There is widespread support for the bill allowing Sephardic Jews to …
Read More »Ireland mourns 6 students killed in balcony collapse; Irish parliament suspends business
LONDON – Flags flew at half-staff around Ireland and the country’s parliament suspended normal business Wednesday as the nation mourned six students killed when a balcony collapsed during a party in Berkeley, California. Prime Minister Enda Kenny offered a message of sympathy and books of condolences were opened at University …
Read More »Controversial U.N. Development Program Faces Cutoff Threat Over Audits
After years of secrecy and resistance from the United Nations’ flagship anti-poverty agency, the United States has called forcefully upon the United Nations Development Program to provide full details of its spending and financial oversight, or face the possibility of a cut-off of its funding. The cutoff threat came in …
Read More »Obama administration demands UN reform — but won't threaten to withhold funding
With presidential elections looming, the Obama administration has launched a high-profile campaign in favor of belt-tightening at the United Nations — but without the threat of withholding U.S. funding for the sprawling world organization. The aim, at least in part, is to preempt even tougher action proposed by the Republican-dominated …
Read More »Amnesty urges Cameroon to release 84 children detained after their Quranic schools raided
DAKAR, Senegal – Human rights activists say that Cameroonian authorities have been holding 84 children in detention after they raised a series of schools accused of supporting Boko Haram. Amnesty International said Friday that some of the children are as young as 5 years old, and have been held for …
Read More »UN prosecutors reopen case against Mladic to hear witnesses testify about mass grave
THE HAGUE, Netherlands – Prosecutors have reopened their case against former Bosnian Serb military chief Gen. Ratko Mladic at the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal to present new evidence gleaned from a mass grave discovered in Bosnia in 2013. More than 400 bodies have been recovered from the grave in Tomasica …
Read More »Reported death of Australian fighting in Iraq raises potential for repatriation of his family
CANBERRA, Australia – Reports that an Australian, notorious for holding up the severed heads of Syrian victims, has been killed fighting in Iraq have raised the potential for his young family to be repatriated from the Middle East, Australia’s foreign minister said on Tuesday. Australian intelligence agencies were attempting to …
Read More »UN urges Yemeni parties to attend future talks and facilitate delivery of urgently needed aid
UNITED NATIONS – The U.N. Security Council is urging all parties in conflict-wracked Yemen to attend future peace talks and facilitate the urgent delivery of humanitarian aid to the impoverished nation where the risk of famine is growing. A press statement approved by all 15 council members Thursday endorses Secretary-General …
Read More »Prosecutor: Still no suspects formally identified in investigation into downing of MH17
ROTTERDAM, Netherlands – Prosecutors involved in the international investigation into the downing last year of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 say they do not yet have specific suspects for possible prosecution. Fred Westerbeke, the Dutch prosecutor leading the investigation, said Tuesday the international team has a number of “persons of interest” …
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