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 …
Read More »Putin says Russia doesn't want war, but criticizes alleged attempts to hold country back
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 …
Read More »Report: Sudanese forces raped 221 women, girls in mass attack; 'new low' in Darfur atrocities
UNITED NATIONS – A human rights group says Sudanese army troops raped at least 221 women and girls in a Darfur village in a series of organized, house-to-house attacks late last year. The Human Rights Watch report released Wednesday calls the mass rape “a new low in the catalog of …
Read More »Swiss prosecutors say they're probing local HSBC subsidiary for suspected money laundering
BERLIN – Swiss prosecutors say they’ve opened a money-laundering investigation against a local subsidiary of HSBC following a report that the bank turned a blind eye to illegal activities of arms dealers and traders in blood diamond traders while helping rich people evade taxes. Geneva prosecutors said the premises of …
Read More »Official: Afghan central bank branch employees stole around $ 1 million
KABUL, Afghanistan – An Afghan central bank official says that around 76 million afghanis (more than $ 1 million) have been stolen by the staff members of one of the bank’s branches. Fazel Ahmad Azimi, the central bank director for Afghanistan’s southern region, said on Saturday that at least three …
Read More »Australia imposes financial sanctions on Egypt-based militant group Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis
CANBERRA, Australia – Australia on Wednesday imposed financial sanctions on the Egypt-based militant group Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said in a statement that the sanctions accorded with a United Nations Security Council resolution on preventing and suppressing terrorist acts. Breaching the sanctions carries a potential maximum 10 …
Read More »Cyprus criminalizes denial of Armenian genocide, other massacres not recognized by courts
NICOSIA, Cyprus – Cyprus’ parliament has legislated to criminalize the denial of the massacre of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks a century ago. Parliamentary speaker Yiannakis Omirou says that through a unanimous vote, lawmakers can make denial of any historically proven massacre a crime. Omirou said after …
Read More »8 migrants drown after wooden boat sinks off Turkish Aegean coast; 3 still missing
ISTANBUL – The Turkish Coast Guard says it has recovered the bodies of eight migrants who drowned after a wooden migrant boat sunk in the Aegean off the Turkish coast of Datca late Monday. The Coast Guard boats rescued nine other people. A boat and a helicopter were still searching …
Read More »South Sudan accuses Sudan of dropping bombs across the border; says 4 killed and 9 wounded
JUBA, South Sudan – A South Sudanese presidential spokesman says four people have been killed by an apparent Sudanese air strike on South Sudan’s territory. Ateny Wek Ateny said Thursday that nine more people were wounded in what he called “an act of aggression” by Sudan. He said Sudan is …
Read More »Humanitarian group launches Mediterranean rescue operation as EU migrant effort falters
BRUSSELS – The humanitarian aid group Doctors Without Borders says it is launching a search and rescue operation in the Mediterranean next month amid faltering European Union efforts to cope with a migrant influx. The group will station doctors on a ship between Malta and the coast of Libya as …
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