QUOTE OF THE DAY
“We declare our complete rejection of the military coup staged against the elected president and the will of the nation.” Senior cleric Abdel-Rahman el-Barr,
Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, reading a statement on the ousting of President Mohammed Morsi Article, 1A
U.K. police: Missing girl possibly alive
LONDON - British police said they have begun a full investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, and want to trace 38 “persons of interest” in the case.
Detectives said it’s possible that Madeleine, who vanished from a Portuguese holiday resort six years ago, is still alive.
Scotland Yard said Thursday that 12 of the individuals of interest are British, and the rest from a variety of European countries. The force said it is working with governments across the continent to find out more.
Madeleine vanished from a vacation home in Portugal’s Algarve region May 3, 2007, days before her 4th birthday. Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood said police “continue to believe that there is a possibility that Madeleine is alive.”
6 kids die in Afghan blasts; officer shot
KABUL, Afghanistan - Roadside bombs killed four young girls and two schoolboys Thursday in Afghanistan and a police inspector was gunned down on her way to work, officials said.
The girls, ages 10 to 12 years, had been sent by their families to a river to fetch some water for a wedding that was being held in a home on the outskirts of the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah, Helmand governor’s spokesman Ummar Zawaq said.
The bomb went off alongside a footpath through a field the girls had taken on their way back home, Zawaq said.
Also in Lashkar Gah on Thursday morning, two gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire on a female police inspector who was being taken to work by her son-in-law on his motorcycle, Zawaq said. Inspector Islam Bibi was rushed to the hospital with her wounds but died there about an hour later, he said. Her son-in-law also was wounded.
And in the eastern province of Paktika, two schoolboys were killed while walking home from classes in the afternoon when they triggered a roadside bomb, the governor’s office said in a statement.
Peace-talks deal near, Palestinians say
RAMALLAH, West Bank - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is closing in on an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians to restart peace talks for a period of six to nine months, Palestinian officials said Thursday.
While a deal is not yet in place, the Palestinians said their president, Mahmoud Abbas, is pleased with the progress and hopeful a formula can be reached to begin what would be the first substantive peace negotiations in nearly five years.
Kerry announced this week that he had significantly narrowed the gaps between the sides and would soon return to the region to try to wrap up the deal.
The Palestinians hope to establish an independent state in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip, territories captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war. The last round of talks broke down in late 2008.
The Palestinians have demanded that Israel stop building Jewish settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem before negotiations begin.
The Palestinians also want Israel to commit to base its final border with a future Palestinian on its 1967 frontiers.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says negotiations should begin without any preconditions.
71 reported killed in Somalia fighting
MOGADISHU, Somalia - At least 71 people have been killed and more than 300 wounded in ongoing fighting between rival militias in the Somali city of Kismayo, the World Health Organization said Thursday.
The clashes in the southern port city have displaced many and continue “to have a profound impact on civilians and humanitarian aid work” in the region, the United Nations health agency said.
Many of the victims suffered fractures, head and chest injuries. Nearly 40 patients had to be operated on, according to WHO.
Kismayo is the scene of intense, sporadic battles as rival militias fight for control of the strategic city. Somalia’s central government accuses Kenyan troops stationed in Kismayo of backing one militia against others and wants the African Union - under whose auspices the Kenyans are deployed - to send a neutral force there.
Somalia’s government has filed a complaint with the African Union in which it says that the conduct of Kenyan troops in Kismayo is undermining military efforts against the Islamic militants of al-Shabab. Kenyan troops are accused of backing the Raskamboni brigade, a militia that helped them push al-Shabab out of Kismayo.
Front Section, Pages 6 on 07/05/2013