VATICAN CITY – The Vatican’s rehabilitation of liberation theology is continuing under Pope Francis with the movement’s founder appearing at an official Vatican event next week. The Peruvian theologian the Rev. Gustavo Gutierrez will be one of the main speakers at a major gathering of the Vatican’s charity arm, Caritas …
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ANKARA, Turkey – Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has crossed into Syrian territory to pay a surprise visit to the tomb of the grandfather of the founder of the Ottoman Empire. In February, Turkey sent hundreds of troops into Syria to move the tomb — which was besieged by Islamic …
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BEIRUT – Syrian activists say the Islamic State group has seized more territory in the central province of Homs amid intense clashes with government forces. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory says Wednesday’s fighting killed at least 28 government troops and about 20 militants. It says hundreds were wounded. The Islamic State …
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ISTANBUL – Turkish media say a man is in custody after a young female talent show singer was shot in the head in southeast Turkey — the latest high-profile attack upon a woman in Turkey. Mutlu Kaya, a 19-year-old Kurd, gained national notice in Turkey in a popular song contest …
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CANBERRA, Australia – Quietly — almost secretly — Zehra Duman morphed from private school student to Islamic State bride and online recruiter for the movement. Her family did not see it coming. So when the 21-year-old Turkish-Australian gave up her middle-class life in Melbourne, Australia’s second largest city, for faraway …
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A man who was released from the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in December and resettled in Kazakhstan has died in that Central Asian country, a Pentagon spokesman said Friday. Asim Thabit Abdullah al-Khalaqi, who was about 47, according to military records, died May 7, Army Lt. Col. Myles …
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ANKARA, Turkey – A pressure group says Turkey’s top administrative court has confirmed in a ruling that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s 1,150-room mega-palace was illegally constructed on protected land. Erdogan moved into the palace last year, brushing aside protests by opposition parties and advocacy groups who say the $620 million …
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YANGON, Myanmar – Myanmar has rejected what it calls “unbalanced comments” made by several Nobel Peace Prize winners calling for an end to the persecution of Rohingya Muslims. The Nobel laureates including South Africa’s Desmond Tutu, Iranian human rights activist Shirin Ebadi and former East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta made …
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BERLIN – A German court has canceled another session in the trial of a 93-year-old former Auschwitz guard due to his poor health. The Lueneburg state court said Wednesday’s session in the trial of former SS sergeant Oskar Groening was called off, the fourth to be scrapped, and proceedings should …
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Houston Texans defender Denzel Perryman will miss the next three games. The veteran linebacker was suspended for repeated violations of play safety rules during the Texans’ upset win over the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 10, the NFL announced on Tuesday. Perryman will not be paid during the three-game suspension. He …
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