The World in Brief

Gaza gunfire killsthree Palestinians

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- Israeli troops killed three Palestinians and severely wounded a fourth near the Gaza Strip's heavily guarded perimeter fence, the Gaza Health Ministry said Sunday.

The Israeli military said a helicopter and a tank fired at armed people near the fence overnight.

After weeks of calm, Palestinian militants have attempted a number of raids in recent days. They fired rockets into Israel on two occasions over the weekend, without wounding anyone. Israel struck Hamas targets in response, without causing casualties.

Israel holds Hamas responsible for all attacks emanating from Gaza, which the Islamic militant group has ruled since 2007. Hamas has said recent attacks were carried out by individuals frustrated by the Israeli-Egyptian blockade imposed on the territory 12 years ago.

Israeli-Palestinian tensions have also risen after recent attacks in the occupied West Bank and clashes at a Jerusalem holy site.

"The killing of young people on the borders of the Gaza Strip is a continuation of the [Israeli] occupation's crimes everywhere, in the West Bank and Jerusalem," Hamas spokesman Hazem Qasem said. "This is linked to the state of anger and pressure that Palestinian people are suffering from."

Firebrand bishopresigns in Greece

ATHENS, Greece -- The Metropolitan Amvrosios of Kalavryta, a fiery conservative Greek Orthodox bishop known for criticizing those who he believed acted in a "non-Christian" or "non-Greek" way, including gays, migrants and politicians, resigned Sunday.

Amvrosios, 81, announced his resignation Sunday at Mass. He has served in the diocese of Kalavryta, in southern Greece, since 1978.

The Metropolitan achieved notoriety for his support of the far-right, anti-immigrant Golden Dawn party. A blog post he wrote about gays in 2015 -- calling them "the scum of society" and urging people to spit on them -- led to his being convicted by a local court of hate speech in January 2019. He was given a seven-month suspended sentence.

In October 2017, he directed priests in his diocese to ring church bells each day for a week, at noon for three minutes each, to protest what he called an "anti-Christian and anti-Greek" law making it easier for people to officially change their gender.

Zimbabwe blocksopposition protest

BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe -- Police barred the largest opposition party from staging a protest planned for today in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second-largest city, citing security concerns.

Assistant Police Commissioner Paul Nyathi said prohibition orders were issued against any protest marches, citing opposition by some business lobby groups.

"Various business groups had also appealed at the High Court not to allow the march to proceed as a number of those organizations lost their properties in January when similar marches were held," Nyathi said.

Marches in Harare on Aug. 16 were blocked by the police, leading to the arrest of 91 activists. Police used tear gas and batons to disperse demonstrators who gathered in defiance of the ban. The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights put the number of arrested at 128 people.

The Movement for Democratic Change has scheduled a series of protest marches in Gweru, Masvingo and Mutare protesting against the economic decline. The group's vice president, Tendai Biti, confirmed the police ban but said the party will appeal at the magistrate's court.

-- Compiled by Democrat-Gazette staff from wire reports

A Section on 08/19/2019

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