VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis has made an appeal as a series of migrant crises rage around the globe: Don’t close the door to those seeking a better life. Francis made the comments during his weekly general audience Wednesday. He thanked those who care for refugees and urged governments to …
Read More »Spain's Socialists name general secretary as candidate for premier in general elections
MADRID – Spain’s Socialist party has appointed its secretary-general as candidate for the post of prime minister in the next general elections due to take place late this year. The leading opposition party on Sunday tasked Pedro Sanchez with winning back voters and taking on the ruling Popular Party of …
Read More »Poland's Parliament chooses new speaker, to replace Radek Sikorski, amid recording scandal
WARSAW, Poland – Poland’s lawmakers have voted to choose the ruling party’s Malgorzata Kidawa-Blonska as Parliament Speaker until the fall general elections. In the same vote, the lower house, or Sejm, approved the resignation of Radek Sikorski. He resigned as speaker as a result of a 2014 scandal in which …
Read More »Afghan official: 3 children killed, 4 wounded by mortar picked up while playing
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – An Afghan official says three children were killed and four wounded after they found an unexploded mortar in a field while playing. Fazal Mohammad Ishaqzia, the governor of Panjwayi district in the southern Kandahar province, said the children killed Wednesday all belonged to the same family. Kandahar …
Read More »Serbian police ban gatherings by both by liberals and nationalists on Srebrenica anniversary
BELGRADE, Serbia – Fearing unrest, Serbia’s police have banned gatherings honoring the victims of the Srebrenica massacre 20 years ago as well as those by ultranationalists who have threatened to disrupt the event. Liberal Serbian groups have planned to organize a happening in Belgrade on Saturday when some 7,000 people …
Read More »China accuses trading firms of manipulating stocks, violating trading rules in market slide
BEIJING – Chinese authorities have accused securities firms of manipulating share prices and allowing improper trading during the country’s market plunge, in a possible effort to deflect blame for investor losses totaling several trillion dollars. The accusations follow drastic official efforts to stop price declines that caused China’s market benchmark …
Read More »Bahraini police say man was killed as bomb, which he tried to plant to target police, exploded
MANAMA, Bahrain – Bahraini authorities say a man died when a bomb, which he was trying to plant to target police, went off in the strategic Gulf island kingdom. The Interior Ministry says on its Twitter feed on Wednesday that the person died in the village of Eker, south of …
Read More »Police official says 5 Czech nationals and their Lebanese driver have gone missing in Lebanon
BEIRUT – A Lebanese official says authorities are searching for five Czech nationals and their Lebanese driver who have gone missing in eastern Lebanon. The police official says their car was found Saturday a few hundred meters (yards) away from a Lebanese army checkpoint in the town of Kefraya. A …
Read More »Magnitude-5.1 earthquake jolts Pakistan's capital and northwest, killing 3 people
MANSEHRA, Pakistan – Authorities in Pakistan say an earthquake that jolted the country early this morning has killed three people. The U.S. Geological Survey says the magnitude-5.1 quake rocked Islamabad and elsewhere in northwest Pakistan at 2 a.m. Saturday. The tremor was so strong that people came out of their …
Read More »Missing Brit Madeleine McCann ruled out as decomposed girl found dumped in Australian scrub
ADELAIDE, Australia – The decomposed remains of a young girl found in a suitcase dumped in Australia do not belong to missing British girl Madeleine McCann, police say. The bones were found earlier this month in bushes near the South Australia state capital Adelaide. South Australia Police Detective Police Superintendent …
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