Peru helicopter with foreign tourists missing
A helicopter with foreign tourists on board has gone missing in southern Peru. Police said on Thursday that 12 South Koreans and two Austrians may be on board, together with two Peruvian pilots. The helicopter reportedly left the Amazon region of Madre de Dios on Wednesday evening bound for Cusco. Media reports say the flight may have been hampered by cloudy weather.
UK government boycotts Euro 2012 in Ukraine
The British government will boycott the Euro 2012 football championship in Ukraine over the treatment of the jailed former PM Yulia Tymoshenko. The Foreign Office confirmed on Thursday that no ministers will attend England's three group stage matches. The UK government however “fully supports” England's participation in Euro 2012. Several EU governments also said they would not be attending games in Ukraine either. The Euro 2012 football championship begins in Ukraine and Poland on Friday.
Arafat moneyman sentenced in absentia to 15 years for corruption
The Palestinian anti-corruption court on Thursday sentenced in absentia the moneyman of the late leader Yasser Arafat for siphoning off millions of dollars in public funds. The court in the West Bank city of Ramallah found Mohammed Rashid guilty of embezzlement and money laundering, AP said. He was also fined $15 million and his properties were ordered confiscated. Rashid and his two associates were convicted of taking a total of $33.5 million from the foreign donor-financed Palestinian Investment Fund.
Lebanon judge charges Syrian troops in killing of Al-Jadeed TV cameraman
Military Prosecutor Judge Saqr Saqr on Thursday charged members of the Syrian army in the April killing of a Lebanese journalist. Ali Shaaban, 30, a cameraman for Al-Jadeed TV, was shot on April 9 while on assignment in the northern area of Wadi Khaled near the border with Syria. The vehicle carrying Shaaban and his two colleagues came under machine gunfire. The Pan Arab TV channel blamed the Syrian army for the killing. The case was referred to a military investigative judge in Lebanon.
Moscow says reports of Assad seeking asylum ‘ridiculous’
Media allegations that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has transferred his money to Russia and is seeking asylum are untrue, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday. These “ridiculous reports” require no comment, spokesman Aleksandr Lukashevich noted. Some Western media outlets alleged earlier that al-Assad transferred around US$6 billion to Russian bank accounts and plans to seek asylum in Russia.
Saddam Hussein's personal secretary executed in Iraq
Saddam Hussein's personal secretary and bodyguard was executed by hanging on Thursday, the Iraqi Justice Ministry says. Abed Hamid Hmoud was among 15 defendants who were tried for their role in the crushing of a Shiite uprising after the 1991 Gulf War, AP said. The last previous execution of a former regime official took place in January 2010 when Saddam's cousin, known as Chemical Ali, was hanged.
Brindisi bomber confesses to bombing school – Italian police
Giovanni Vantaggio, an Italian businessman, has confessed to bombing a school in Brindisi, police say. The May 19 bomb blast killed a 16-year-old girl in southern Italy. It seems Vantaggio, 68, held a grudge against the judicial system, Prosecutor Cataldo Motta said on Thursday. Investigators are not entirely convinced about his motive.
UN observers arrive site of Hama massacre – report
An international observer delegation is currently visiting Mazraat al-Qubair in Hama following the massacre on Wednesday night, SANA news agency reports. The death toll of the overnight incident has thus far been impossible to determine, but the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights puts the confirmed death toll at 49 people.
Blast strikes Pakistani school – at least 6 dead
A bomb explosion has hit outside a school in Quetta, western Pakistan, killing six people, four of whom were children, according to local officials. The blast went off as a degree ceremony attended by hundreds of students was being conducted inside the building. At least 30 people were also injured in the explosion. Local media say the bomb was attached to a bicycle that was left outside the school gates.
Syria thwarts infiltration attempt by ‘terrorist group’ – reports
Syrian security forces have thwarted an infiltration attempt by a “terrorist group” from Lebanon, state-run SANA news agency said Thursday. The infiltration was reportedly prevented at dawn near the village of Idlin, Tal Kalakh, 5 kilometers from the northern Lebanese region of Wadi Khaled. Lebanese media say security forces wounded several members of the group while others fled back to Lebanon.
US patience with Pakistan ‘reaching limits’ – Panetta
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Thursday US officials are “reaching the limits” of their patience with Pakistan and urged the country to do more to root out the Al Qaeda-linked Haqqani terrorist network. “It is an increasing concern that the safe haven exists and that there are those — likely Haqqanis — who are making use of that to attack our forces,” Panetta said in Afghanistan on Thursday, as cited by AP. The Haqqani group has been blamed for several attacks on Americans in Afghanistan. Washington has given Pakistan billions of dollars in aid for its support in fighting Islamist militants.
Israel court upholds plan to deport South Sudanese
Jerusalem District Court on Thursday upheld the planned deportation of South Sudanese believed to have entered Israel illegally. The court rejected a petition by human rights groups that had delayed the Interior Ministry's April 1 deportation order. The ruling said the state was not obligated to extend de facto asylum to the estimated 1,500 migrants from South Sudan, Reuters reports. The petitioners were told they had not proven that deportees would face “risk to life.” Some 60,000 Africans have crossed into Israel through its desert border with Egypt. The government sees them as a big economic and demographic threat to Israel's population of 7.8 million.
Ten hurt as two buildings collapse in southern Italy
Two buildings collapsed in southern Italy on Thursday morning following an explosion caused by a gas leak. At least 10 people, including a child, were lightly injured, according to Conversano Mayor Giuseppe Lovascio. The injured were in surrounding buildings when the explosion occurred in the historic center of the town located south of the city of Bari in the Apulia region. One of the collapsed buildings was not occupied.
Karzai condemns NATO strike on Afghan civilians, cuts trip to China
Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Thursday condemned as unacceptable a NATO air strike that he says killed 18 civilians. “Attacks by NATO that cause life and property losses to civilians under no circumstances could be justified and are not acceptable,” he said of the attack on Wednesday in Logar province south of Kabul. The president was also “deeply grieved” over the deaths in a Kandahar suicide bombing on the same day, his office said. Karzai cut short a trip to Beijing to return home. US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is in Kabul to assess the war against the Taliban and plans for the US troop withdrawal.
UK’s Cameron urges world to do more to isolate Syria
British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Thursday the international community has to do more to isolate the Syrian regime after the latest “brutal and sickening” massacre. “We need to do much more to isolate Syria,” Cameron told reporters during a stop in Oslo. Syrian opposition activists say scores have died in what is described as a new massacre in the central Hama province. Cameron said that if the reports are true, it adds further proof that the Syrian regime is “completely illegitimate and cannot stand.”
Russia to get $9.1 billion as government updates privatization plan
The Russian government approved an updated privatization plan at a session on Thursday. The changes to the privatization program for the 2011-2013 period were adopted, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said. Specific timeframes and the volume of stock sales in companies will be determined by separate decisions, reducing government presence in competitive sectors of the economy. Several major energy and oil-production companies, including Rosneft, “should be removed from direct government control by 2016,” Medvedev said. Russia is planning to generate 300 billion roubles (about US$ 9.1 billion) in revenue from privatization this year, according to Economic Development Minister Andrei Belousov.
Italian police detain suspect for Brindisi school bombing
Italian police have detained a 68-year-old man for last month's bombing in front of a school in Brindisi, a port city in southern Italy. The man allegedly confessed to building and planting the bomb after several hours of questioning in the city of Lecce on Wednesday, Reuters said. Police described the detention as an “important and definitive breakthrough” in the investigation. The man’s motive was described as a "personal" vendetta and not a terrorist act. The May 19 bomb killed a 16-year-old girl and wounded 10 other people.
Israel approves construction of 850 homes in West Bank
Israel will build 850 new homes in the West Bank, including 300 in the Beit El settlement. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved the construction after parliament voted down, at his urging, a bill that would have legalized the Ulpana outpost, AP said. Israel's Supreme Court ordered the five apartment buildings in Ulpana removed by July 1 because they were built on privately held Palestinian land.
US official urges repeal of Jackson-Vanik amendment restricting Russia trade
US Trade Representative Ron Kirk has said the repeal of the Jackson-Vanik amendment that puts trade restrictions on Russia is a top priority for his office this year. The amendment adopted during the Cold War allows denial of most-favored-nation status to non-market countries that restrict emigration. The US has granted Russia annual waivers since 1994, but the amendment is still an irritant in bilateral relations. Some lawmakers propose instead of the amendment adoption of the so-called Magnitsky bill, aimed against a number of Russian officials. But Kirk said on Wednesday the two measures should not be linked, AP reports.
Panetta in Afghanistan to discuss increased Taliban attacks
US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta arrived in Afghanistan on Thursday for talks with military leaders and with the Afghan defense minister, General Abdul Rahim Wardak. Panetta said the purpose of the trip was to hear an assessment from US General John Allen, the head of NATO coalition forces, about the ability to confront “threats from the Taliban and from the Haqqanis,” as cited by Reuters. Haqqani is an Al Qaeda-linked militant network. The Defense Secretary wants to find out more about the recent increase in the numbers of attacks in Afghanistan.
Russia may exchange convicted US spy for Bout – daily
Russian authorities may consider exchanging convicted US spy Valery Mikhailov for Viktor Bout or Konstantin Yaroshenko, found guilty of conspiring to trade arms illegally and to smuggle drugs into the US respectively, Kommersant reports. A Russian court sentenced Mikhailov, an FSB colonel, to 18 years in prison for furnishing state secrets to the US. Bout was sentenced to 25 years for conspiring to sell weapons to Colombian FARC rebels. Yaroshenko was given a 20-year prison sentence for conspiring to smuggle a large shipment of cocaine into the US.
Clinton calls for new Syria sanctions
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has called for new, additional sanctions to be imposed on the Syrian government. In a meeting in Turkey, she said the circle of countries implementing the sanctions had to be expanded to close off the regime’s economic lifelines. Clinton echoed Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s call to invoke, if necessary, tough UN Chapter 7 sanctions against Damascus, as called by the Arab League. Her statements came as the Friends of Syrian People International Working Group on sanctions assembled in Washington, DC, and after a new purported massacre in the Hama region.
French government issues draft decree to lower retirement age
The French government has issued a draft decree that would see the country’s minimum retirement age lowered from 62 to 60, reversing a measure adopted under Nicolas Sarkozy’s presidency. The decree will only affect employees who entered the workforce at ages 18 to 19, and is set to take effect in November. It would also ease retirement requirements for mothers and victims of workplace accidents. The government says the costs are to be financed by a small rise in payroll charges paid by both employers and employees. The draft decree was issued ahead of Sunday’s parliamentary election, in which President Francois Hollande’s Socialist Party hopes to secure a majority. During the campaign, Hollande was critical of Sarkozy’s emphasis on austerity and instead stressed the importance of stimulating the economy.
Eight Colombian rebels killed – military
The Colombian military says eight rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) have been killed in a bombardment and clashes with army troops in the northern Antioquia state. Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon also reported that among the dead is a leader of the group. FARC has an estimated 9,000 guerrilla troops and has been fighting the government for decades. The rebels are notorious for their ambushes and hit-and-run attacks on security forces. Authorities also blame them for two bombings that killed 16 people in provincial towns in February.
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