KOUROU, French Guiana – A rocket fired from French Guiana has launched two Galileo satellites for the European Space Agency as the European Union continues to expand its global navigation system. Arianespace says the seventh and eighth Galileo spacecraft were placed into orbit Friday evening. The European Union has said …
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VIENNA – Austrian law enforcement officials say two teenage girls have been detained on suspicion of seeking to travel to Syria as potential wives for militants fighting there. Marcus Neher of the Salzburg public prosecutor’s office says they were detained in Salzburg and Upper Austria province on Saturday. He says …
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MADRID – The leader of Spain’s separatist-minded Catalonia region has announced that regional elections will be held in September to determine whether a majority of lawmakers favor an independence drive. Catalonia regional leader Artur Mas said Wednesday elections will be held Sept. 27 after he failed last year to convince …
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KABUL, Afghanistan – Afghanistan is investigating a Cabinet nominee over allegedly being on an Interpol most-wanted list for tax evasion, a government spokesman said Sunday, a potential embarrassment for President Ashraf Ghani amid his pledges to root out corruption. The probe focuses on Mohammad Yaqub Haidari, 52, the nominee to …
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TORONTO – Canada’s central bank is cutting its key interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point because of the recent sharp drop in oil prices. The Bank of Canada unexpectedly cut its trend-setting rate on Wednesday to three quarters of a percentage point from one percent. The bank …
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UNITED NATIONS – Russia has blocked a Western-backed U.N. Security Council statement that would have condemned indiscriminate shelling in Ukraine’s southeastern city of Mariupol that killed about 30 civilians and injured more than 90. The blocked statement called for “an immediate de-escalation of violence,” implementation of a September cease-fire and …
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KAMPALA, Uganda – A dozen suspects have appeared in a Ugandan court to face charges, including murder and terrorism, amid what local officials say is the budding threat of Islamic here. Police spokesman Fred Enanga said Thursday the suspects were “using religion to recruit people” into an armed group. At …
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BEIJING – A Chinese court says two cult members have been put to death for killing a woman at a McDonald’s outlet. The Yantai Intermediate People’s Court in the eastern province of Shandong says Zhang Fan and her father, Zhang Lidong, were executed after the Supreme People’s Court approved the …
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IQALUIT, Nunavut – A defrocked Artcic priest has been sentenced to 19 years in prison for dozens of sex crimes against Inuit children. Eric Dejaeger’s (deh-YAY’-guhrz) crimes took place 35 years ago in the remote Canadian community of Igloolik when he was there as an Oblate missionary. He was originally …
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MOSCOW – Vladimir Putin says Russian doesn’t want to fight anyone but is warning against what he sees as foreign attempts to impede the country’s development. The Russian president’s remarks on Saturday to a trade union congress in the resort city of Sochi came as officials from Russia, Ukraine, France …
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