QUITO, Ecuador – Flights to the Galapagos islands were canceled for the day and Ecuadorean soldiers fired tear gas to clear roads blocked by residents protesting cost-cutting legislation that will strip them of subsidies they call essential to absorb high living costs. Hundreds took part in the nine-hour strike Friday …
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CAIRO – An Egyptian appeals court has granted a retrial for a top militant and 15 others accused of killing 25 Egyptian police officers in 2013. Saturday’s ruling overturns previous convictions ranging from a death sentence to 15 years in prison. The attack in 2013 saw militants ambush two minibuses …
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PANAMA CITY – A Panamanian court has sentenced two North Koreans to 12 years in prison in absentia for arms trafficking. The two men left the country in 2014. The alleged smugglers were crew members on a North Korean ship that attempted to pass through the Panama Canal with contraband …
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SANAA, Yemen – Al-Qaida’s Yemeni branch has killed two men accused of spying for the United States and hung their bodies off a bridge. Witnesses say al-Qaida gunmen in the southern city of Mukalla read out charges before shooting the two men, one of whom was accused of guiding the …
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ISLAMABAD – Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has asked authorities to temporarily suspend the implementation of the death penalty during the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. A statement released by Sharif’s office late Thursday says Sharif ordered a pause to observe “the sanctity of the holy month”, which began …
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SEOUL, South Korea – Seoul says North Korea has canceled plans to attend next month’s University Games in South Korea. North Korea earlier told South Korean organizers that it wants to send a team to the multi-sport event in the South Korean city of Gwangju. The Unification Ministry said Monday …
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BEIJING – China says Southeast Asia’s lawless ‘Golden Triangle’ region remains the overwhelming source of the heroin and methamphetamine used in the country. A Cabinet report on China’s drug situation released Wednesday underscores the threat posed by the region incorporating parts of Laos, Myanmar and Thailand, despite efforts at cross-border …
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SAO PAULO – Brazil’s government says unemployment continues rising in Latin America’s largest country. The country’s IBGE statistics bureau said Thursday that the jobless rate in May was 6.7 percent, against 6.4 percent in April and 4.9 percent in May of last year. IBGE said it was the highest May …
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BUJUMBURA, Burundi – Witnesses say two people have been killed in overnight attacks that they believe were carried out by Burundian police. Witnesses in Jabe neighborhood in the nation’s capital of Bujumbura, reported intense gunfire Saturday night in an apparent police crackdown on areas seen as hosting anti-government protesters. Mohamed …
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MOSCOW – Russian investigators say they are considering whether to charge former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky with ordering the 1998 killing of a Siberian mayor. At the time when Nefteyugansk Mayor Vladimir Petukhov was shot dead, he was in conflict with Khodorkovsky’s oil company, Yukos, over alleged tax arrears. Khodorkovsky …
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