QUOTE OF THE DAY
“The situation is very difficult and very, very complicated, and we are moving not in steps, but half-steps.”
Lakhdar Brahimi, the U.N. mediator on talks in Geneva while trying to broker peace between Syrian President Bashar Assad’s delegation and the Syrian National Coalition after years of Syria’s civil war Article, this page
32 presumed dead in retirement home
L’ISLE-VERTE, Quebec - Crews on Saturday recovered two more bodies as they struggled with frigid weather and ice as thick as 2 feet to search the ruins of a burned-out Quebec retirement home. Ten bodies of the 32 presumed dead have been recovered.
A blaze swept through the three-story building in L’Isle-Verte, about 140 miles northeast of Quebec City, early Thursday. Quebec Provincial Police Lt. Guy Lapointe lowered the number of missing from about 30 to 22 based on more detailed information.
The coroner’s office identified two of the victims as Juliette Saindon, 95, and Marie-Laureat Dube, 82.
The cause of the blaze that burned down the Residence du Havre was under investigation, and police asked the public for any videos or photos that might yield clues.
Frigid weather continued to hamper the search, with Lapointe saying the ice in certain places was as thick as 2 feet. Search teams brought in equipment normally used to de-ice ships.
French president splits with first lady
PARIS - French President Francois Hollande has split with the country’s first lady two weeks after a tabloid reported that the leader was having an affair with an actress, an official said Saturday.
A presidential aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak publicly about the matter, confirmed Hollande ended his seven-year relationship with Valerie Trierweiler.
French news agency Agence France-Presse said Hollande said in a phone interview Saturday evening, “I make it known that I have put an end” to the relationship with Trierweiler.
He and Trierweiler have lived together since 2007, and while they’re unmarried, Trierweiler occupied the so-called madame wing of the presidential palace, traveled abroad with Hollande and functioned as the first lady.
Hollande had dodged questions about Trierweiler’s status since a Jan. 14 news conference at which he refused to say whether the 48-year-old journalist was still the first lady.
Closer magazine reported that Hollande, 58, was having an affair with actress Julie Gayet, 41.
Trierweiler checked into a hospital for a week-long stay after the tabloid’s report.
Family of six dies in Iraqi explosions
BAGHDAD - A series of bombings across Iraq killed 15 people Saturday, including a soldier and his entire family, authorities said.
Police said that the day’s deadliest attack struck Muqdadiyah, about 60 miles north of Baghdad, when two explosions targeted the home of a soldier, killing him, his wife, two daughters and two sons as they slept.
In Baghdad, a car bomb exploded in a commercial street in the capital’s western neighborhood of Amariyah, killing four people and wounding 12, police said. Another bomb blast near an outdoor market in the Sadiyah neighborhood killed two shoppers and wounded six, officials said.
Saturday night, a car bomb exploded near homes in a Turkomen neighborhood in Tuz Khormato, killing three people and wounding five, Mayor Shalal Abdoul said.
Cease-fire violated, S. Sudan sides say
South Sudan’s government and rebel forces accused each other of violating a cease-fire that was supposed to suspend a five-week conflict that has killed thousands of people and driven half a million from their homes.
Rebels attacked South Sudan’s army near Bor, the capital of Jonglei, and south of Malakal in Upper Nile state, military spokesman Philip Aguer said Friday.
Armed groups have “not respected the cease-fire,” continuing to attack government positions, Aguer said in a phone interview from Juba. “We are puzzled whether these groups are under the same body that signed for peace in Addis or they’re operating under different orders.”
Rebel army spokesman Lul Ruai Koang, in turn, blamed the military and Ugandan troops for attacking insurgents near Bor on Friday.
The warring parties agreed to halt the fighting within 24 hours of a cease-fire accord mediated by East African nations, which they signed Thursday.
Front Section, Pages 6 on 01/26/2014