JERUSALEM – Israel’s defense minister is blaming Islamic Jihad — a smaller Palestinian militant group in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip — for the latest rocket fired at Israel that drew retaliatory airstrikes overnight. Moshe Yaalon says the airstrikes targeted both Islamic Jihad and Hamas sites in Gaza early on Wednesday, …
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UNITED NATIONS – Lithuania’s foreign minister says his government wants a NATO battalion deployed permanently in the country as a “security guarantee” — not a provocation against Russia which has stepped up military action in the Baltic states. Linas Linkevicius said in an interview Wednesday with The Associated Press that …
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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Puerto Rico is preparing to overhaul its heavily indebted public power company as the U.S. territory’s government faces a July deadline to approve a new budget and make a roughly $400 million payment to the utility’s investors amid growing concerns that public agencies could go …
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The Louvre Museumhas acquired a $26 million painting from the 13th century four years after the work of art was discovered hanging on the wall of an elderly woman’s kitchen in France. The Louvre announced the acquisition of the masterpiece titled “Christ Mocked,” which is attributed to the Italian painter …
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Amanda Knox, who was wrongfully convicted of killing her roommate, Meredith Kercher, in Italy in 2007, says the man who did kill Kercher has been “able to cause harm to more young women” since he was released after serving a 13-year sentence. Rudy Guede, 36, was convicted of 21-year-old Kercher’s …
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Israel dropped leaflets over Gaza offering cash rewards amounting to $1 million for information leading to the capture of Hamas’ top leadership in the region on Thursday. Atop the list is Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who’s award is $400,000, followed by his brother, Muhammed at $300,000. Muhammed commands Hamas forces …
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PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad – Trinidad Attorney General Garvin Nicholas said Wednesday that officials feared former FIFA Vice President Jack Warner would flee the island after facing U.S. federal corruption charges, but they’re now confident he’ll stay in the country. Warner is scheduled to appear in court July 9 for an extradition …
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TOKYO – Four years after an earthquake and tsunami destroyed Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant, the road ahead remains riddled with unknowns. The government approved a revised 30-to-40-year roadmap Friday that delays by three years the start of a key initial step — the removal of still-radioactive used fuel rods …
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TORONTO – A Canadian freelance journalist who was held by kidnappers for 15 months in Somalia seven years ago says the Somali man who Canadian police arrested last week terrorized her mother by calling to Canada multiple times a day at all hours in an effort to extract a ransom. …
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KUWAIT CITY – A criminal court in Kuwait issued two-year suspended sentences to a group of 21 people, among them eight former lawmakers, for “offending” the Gulf Arab country’s ruler. The opposition activists and former lawmakers also were ordered by the court Tuesday to pay roughly $6,600 each to settle …
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