MEXICO CITY – Mexico’s Gulf coast state of Tabasco has set up an emergency plan to supply drinking water to the capital of Villahermosa after oil thieves punctured a pipeline, contaminating rivers that normally supply the city. The spill late last week sent workers with the state-owned oil company scrambling …
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UNITED NATIONS – Iran’s foreign minister is urging U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to try to end “the senseless aerial attacks” in Yemen by a Saudi-led coalition and establish a cease-fire. Javad Zarif said in a letter Friday to the U.N. chief that the bombs are destroying hospitals, schools, roads, food …
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UNITED NATIONS – The United Nations secretary-general is warning Myanmar that stability in its most sensitive region can’t be achieved unless it addresses the issue of citizenship for minority Rohingya Muslims. Ban Ki-moon told a Myanmar delegation Friday that the U.N. has seen “already troubling signs of ethnic and religious …
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BEIRUT – Syria’s main opposition group in exile says it will attend upcoming consultations in Geneva with the U.N. special envoy to Syria aimed at re-launching political negotiations. In a statement Tuesday, the Syrian National Coalition says its president, Khaled Khoja, informed the envoy, Staffan de Mistura, of the group’s …
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NIAMEY, Niger – The governor of the southern Diffa region in Niger has ordered residents of inhabited islands on Lake Chad to evacuate to the mainland by Monday because of the Boko Haram threat. Niger’s government said a Boko Haram attack on Karamga island in Lake Chad last weekend resulted …
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AMMAN, Jordan – Jordan has kicked off a two-week military exercise with some 10,000 participants from 18 countries, many members of a U.S.-led military coalition against the Islamic State group, which controls much of neighboring Iraq and Syria. The kingdom is hosting the “Eager Lion” drill for the fifth year, …
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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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