Car bomb fatal to 7 in Syrian-held Homs
BEIRUT -- A car bomb exploded Thursday in a pro-government neighborhood in the central Syrian city of Homs, killing at least seven people, state media and activists said.
The Syrian government took full control of Homs last month after rebels withdrew from their strongholds in the Old City as part of a negotiated evacuation deal after a nearly two-year siege by the military. Car bombs still occasionally target government areas.
Thursday's blast occurred in the Wadi Dahab district and killed at least seven people, the Syrian state news agency said. It said some 25 others were wounded. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights put the death toll at eight.
Also Thursday, the activist group said the Syrian government released about 530 detainees under a "general amnesty" announced Monday by President Bashar Assad after his re-election. Thousands more prisoners are expected to be released under the presidential pardon.
Ex-Ivory Coast president to stand trial
THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- The former president of Ivory Coast must stand trial on charges of crimes against humanity related to violence in the months he clung to power after losing elections, a panel of judges at the International Criminal Court ruled Thursday.
Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo is charged with orchestrating violence carried out by his supporters after Ivory Coast's 2010 elections. He denies wrongdoing.
Prosecutors said he is responsible for murders, rapes, persecution and inhumane acts against supporters of his political rival -- now president -- Alassane Ouattara, during five months of violence when Gbagbo refused to accept defeat.
A panel of three judges said in a majority ruling that there is "substantial grounds to believe" Gbagbo committed the crimes he is charged with. No trial date has been set.
Gbagbo was ousted from power in April 2011 and incarcerated in The Hague that November. He will be the first former national leader to face trial at the permanent court for war crimes and atrocities.
Live ammo killed Palestinian, groups say
RAMALLAH, West Bank -- Preliminary autopsy findings show that a Palestinian teen killed during a lull in a West Bank confrontation between stone throwers and Israeli troops was shot dead by live ammunition, two human-rights groups said Thursday.
The Israeli military has denied use of live ammunition in the May 15 confrontation, insisting troops used only rubber-coated steel pellets, a standard means of crowd control. Troops are permitted to use live ammunition only in life-threatening situations.
Two 17-year-olds, Nadim Nawara and Mohammed Salameh, were killed that day, during intermittent confrontations between several dozen Palestinian stone throwers and Israeli troops on the outskirts of the West Bank town of Beitouniya.
The teens were killed in the same spot but more than an hour apart. Their deaths drew worldwide attention in part because their final moments were captured by security cameras. In each case, the footage showed the teen walking in the street, a few yards from a wall where others were taking cover.
Graft trials demanded in the Philippines
MANILA, Philippines -- Hundreds of activists demanded Thursday that Philippine President Benigno Aquino III prosecute all officials, including some of his own allies, who are accused of stealing from state funds intended to help the poor.
Carrying kerosene torches, the protesters marched to the presidential palace but were stopped by riot police who barricaded the road.
Three senators and several associates have been charged with plunder for purportedly receiving millions of dollars in kickbacks from a businessman who skimmed the money from government allocations for the poor.
The protesters said all three senators belong to the opposition. Renato Reyes, secretary-general of the left-wing New Patriotic Alliance, accused Aquino of protecting allies linked to the scam.
Former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada and Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr. have denied any role in the scam. Plunder carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. The anti-graft court hasn't issued arrest warrants.
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A Section on 06/13/2014