Global News
22
08
2013
Rockets from Lebanon hit Israel, no casualties
At least two rockets fired from Lebanon hit northern Israel on
Thursday, Israeli police and Lebanese security sources said. There were
no reports of casualties or damage. A security source in Lebanon said
two rockets were fired, but Israeli police said it appeared that at
least three had struck, Reuters reported. Israeli media say that one of
the rockets was intercepted by the “Iron Dome” anti-missile system.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.
Human Rights Watch urges Egypt authorities to protect churches
Egyptian authorities must protect churches and Christian homes and
businesses from attack and Islamists must stop inciting sectarian
violence, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday. The group said it had
documented attacks on 42 churches and dozens of Christian institutions,
schools and homes across the country. It added that at least four people
were reported killed in sectarian violence, three Christians and one
Muslim. The group also said that Islamists, including ousted president
Mohamed Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood, had failed to properly condemn the
violence and prevent future attacks.
Greek state broadcaster resumes programming
Greece’s new state television channel began airing news programs
Wednesday, two months after the government’s abrupt closure of the
broadcaster, ERT, led to a political crisis. The conservative-led
government abruptly shuttered ERT in June and fired all 2,700 staff,
citing the need to cut costs. ERT’s sacked workers then took over the
company’s headquarters in Athens and continued to produce programs. The
European Broadcasting Union streamed their broadcasts by satellite and
on its website. The union announced earlier this week that it would halt
its streaming. More than 500 people had been hired on a two-month
contract for Greece’s new interim state public television.
German woman attacked by shark in Hawaii dies
A young German woman who was attacked by a shark and had her right
arm bitten off died Wednesday at a hospital in Hawaii, medics said. Jana
Lutteropp, 20, passed away at Maui Memorial Medical Center after
spending days on life support and in a critical condition, AFP reported.
She had been snorkeling in murky waters not far from the shore on the
island of Maui when she was attacked by a shark last Wednesday.
Egypt prosecutor orders prison to release Mubarak
An Egyptian prosecutor has ordered a Cairo prison to release deposed
President Hosni Mubarak, an official in the prosecutor’s office said on
Thursday. Written instructions have been sent to Tora Prison to release
Mubarak, Reuters quoted the official as saying. The former Egyptian
leader was toppled in a revolt in 2011.
Japan says 2 Russian bombers briefly entered airspace
The Japanese Defense and Foreign Ministries have claimed two Russian
bombers briefly entered Japan’s airspace near its major southern island
of Kyushu on Thursday. The two TU-95 bombers allegedly arrived shortly
after noon on Thursday for less than two minutes, Reuters reported,
citing the ministries. Japan scrambled F-2 combat jets in response.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Aleksandr Lukashevich said he was
unaware of the reports and would look into them.
Syrian opposition claims bodies still being found after alleged chemical attack
Bodies are still being discovered after an alleged chemical weapons
attack on the outskirts of Damascus that reportedly killed hundreds of
people, a Syrian opposition spokesman said on Thursday.
“We expect
the number [of dead] to grow because we just discovered a neighborhood
in Zamalka where there are houses full of dead people,” Reuters
quoted Syrian National Coalition spokesman Khaled Saleh as saying. The
opposition has demanded that UN chemical weapons inspectors investigate
the besieged rebel-held region outside the capital.
Retired US sailor guilty of attempted espionage
A federal jury has convicted Robert Patrick Hoffman II, a retired
sailor from Virginia Beach, of trying to pass classified information to
“Russian spies.” The jury unanimously rejected on Wednesday his defense
that he was trying to lure his handlers into a trap. Hoffman, 40, a
petty officer first class who retired in 2011, is to be sentenced
December 2 in US District Court and faces up to life in prison for the
one count of attempted espionage. The FBI opened the investigation in
2012. According to testimony, Hoffman, passed classified information to
undercover FBI agents posing as Russian intelligence officers.
Czech President Zeman to dissolve parliament on August 28
Czech President Milos Zeman will formally dissolve the lower house of
parliament on August 28, Reuters quoted his spokeswoman as saying on
Thursday. The deputies voted to disband the chamber earlier this week.
The president must now call an early election within 60 days, and Zeman
is expected to call the vote for October 25 and 26.
Miranda’s lawyers apply for interim injunction over seized data
David Miranda’s lawyers have applied for injunction to stop UK
government and police copying data seized at Heathrow. Lawyers for
partner of Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald were to present the case
for injunction at high court on Thursday. They had applied for an
interim injunction to prevent the police or the government using,
copying or sharing any of the data they may have taken from his laptop,
phone and other electronic equipment they seized at Heathrow, The
Guardian said. The defense says the Metropolitan police misused Schedule
7 of the Terrorism Act 2000 and had no powers to detain a transit
passenger who had not formally entered the UK or Northern Ireland.
Tunisian Islamists accept union plan for elections
Tunisia’s governing Islamists moved closer to negotiations with
secular opponents on Thursday by agreeing in principle to a plan for a
transition toward new elections. The UGTT trade union federation, which
is mediating between Ennahda and its opponents, has proposed that the
government step down and let a neutral interim cabinet prepare new
elections, Reuters said. Ennahda rejected this in the past but changed
course this week. Rached Ghannouchi, chairman of the Islamist Ennahda
party, said the talks could resolve the political crisis.
Gunmen kill 5 people in northern Iraq
Gunmen killed five people, including two soldiers, in Iraq on
Thursday, officials said. Four people were killed in the northern
province of Nineveh, including two soldiers, and another was wounded,
AFP reported. There were two separate attacks, one of them targeting a
checkpoint. In the northern city of Kirkuk, gunmen kidnapped and
executed a lawyer. Also, a car bomb in a government car park wounded
four people, police said.
All ‘red lines’ crossed in Syria – Turkish FM
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Thursday that “all
red lines” had been crossed in Syria. However, the UN Security Council
“has not even been able to take a decision,” Reuters quoted the minister as saying in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack.
“This is a responsibility for the sides who still set these red lines and for all of us,” Davutoglu said in Berlin.
Thai court hands Iranian life sentence over botched Bangkok bombing
An Iranian man who blew off his own legs was sentenced to life in
prison by a Thai court on Thursday for his involvement in a botched bomb
plot that rocked Bangkok on February 14, 2012, in which five people
were wounded by a series of blasts. A court found Saeid Moradi, 29,
guilty of attempted murder in an attack that authorities say was
intended to target Israeli diplomats, Reuters reported. A second
defendant, Mohammad Khazaei, 43, was given 15 years in jail for
possession of explosive devices. The explosions have been linked to a
car-bomb attack on the wife of an Israeli diplomat in India and a third,
unsuccessful attack in Georgia a day earlier.
Disgraced China politician Bo Xilai goes on trial
Disgraced Chinese politician Bo Xilai, one of the most senior party
leaders to fall from power in years, went on trial Thursday, charged
with abuse of power and netting more than $4 million in bribery and
embezzlement. None of the charges against Bo appear to involve the
widespread human rights abuses alleged to have been carried out during
his unfettered rule as Chongqing party chief. The scandal was triggered
last year when Bo’s police chief fled to a US consulate, an event that
embarrassed the party’s leadership ahead of a key political
transition.Media agencies
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