SYRIA
Rebels commanders unite
Rebel commanders from across the country have joined forces under a united command they hope will increase coordination between diverse fighting groups and streamline the pathway for arms essential to their struggle against President Bashar al-Assad. Disorganization has bedeviled the rebel movement since its birth late last year. Scores of rebel groups battle al-Assad’s forces across the country, many coordinating with no one outside of their own area. The new body, expected to be announced officially yesterday, hopes to form the basis of a united rebel front.
ROMANIA
Elections bring uncertainty
The center-left government is expected to win a comfortable victory after yesterday’s parliamentary elections, but the result could lead to more of the political instability that has plagued the impoverished Balkan nation this year. President Traian Basescu must nominate the prime minister, and he has indicated he may not reappoint Prime Minister Victor Ponta even if his coalition wins a majority. The two have been embroiled in a bitter personal feud since Ponta tried and failed to impeach the center-right Basescu in July. If Basescu refuses to reappoint Ponta, it would cause a political standoff. Basescu could nominate someone else, but his choice would have to be approved by parliament. If his candidate fails in two rounds of voting, parliament could be dissolved.
RUSSIA
Medvedev jokes about aliens
Men in Black agents K and J may be about to recruit a new assistant: Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. Medvedev has spoken about top secret files on aliens that may have landed in the country. In footage recorded on Friday after a TV interview, the former president joked that each leader gets two folders with information about extraterrestrials that visited our planet — and stayed. Unseen on camera footage, he is heard telling a Ren TV journalist he could not tell “how many of them are among us, because it may cause panic.” He said more details could be found in Barry Sonnenfeld’s Men in Black films.
SPAIN
Gypsies’ roots analyzed
In parts of Europe, they are still shunned as disruptive outsiders or patronized as little more than an exotic source of music and dance, but scientists have now proved the continent’s Gypsies have ancient roots stretching back more than a millennium. A genetic analysis of 13 Gypsy groups around Europe, published in the Current Biology journal, has revealed that the arrival on the continent of Gypsy forebears from northern India happened far earlier than was thought, about 1,500 years ago. The earliest population reached the Balkans, while the spread outward from there came about nine centuries ago, according to researchers at the Institute of Evolutionary Biology and elsewhere. Gypsies were originally thought to have come from Egypt and some of the earliest references to them in English, dating back to the 16th century, call them “Egyptians.” Early European references describe wandering, nomadic communities who were known for their music and skill with horses. They arrived in Spain in the 15th century or earlier records of groups and held on despite attempts to expel them or imprison those who refused to give up their language and culture. The study shows not only that they share common ancestry from northwest India, but also that they have mixed extensively with other Europeans.
MEXICO
Thirteen die in clashes
Authorities say gunmen rampaged through a town in Chihuahua, killing at least six people, including a child. State prosecutors say the attack happened late on Friday in the town of Guadalupe y Calvo. They say six bodies were found in three different neighborhoods. A house also was burned. In Coahuila, officials say seven suspected organized crime members died during two clashes with the military early on Saturday. Four were killed when marines fought with an armed group before dawn in the town of Morelos. Three others died minutes later in a battle between army special forces soldiers and gunmen 60km north in Piedras Negras, which is next to Eagle Pass, Texas.
UNITED STATES
Father kills son in accident
A man getting into his truck while holding a gun accidentally shot and killed his seven-year-old son on Saturday, police said. The tragedy occurred in East Lackawannock, about 100km north of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The father was identified as Joseph Loughrey, 44, and his son, who was shot in the chest, was named Craig, according to a statement from the Pennsylvania State Police. The father and son were getting back into their truck after visiting a gun store called Twigs Reloading Den. Loughrey told police he had emptied the magazine of his handgun, but did not realize there was still a bullet in the chamber, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported.
UNITED STATES
Strauss-Kahn eyes deal
Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former IMF managing director and French presidential hopeful, wants to draw a line today under the New York sex scandal that destroyed his stellar career. Lawyers for Strauss-Kahn are due in Bronx Supreme Court to discuss a settlement of the civil suit brought by Nafissatou Diallo, who accuses the French economist of sexually assaulting her when she went to clean his luxury hotel room in May last year. Justice Douglas McKeon said he expects Diallo and her attorneys to be present at the hearing, but not Strauss-Kahn himself. The terms of any possible settlement — which would allow Strauss-Kahn to avoid the embarrassment of a civil trial and the potential for a jury to order a huge payout — have been kept confidential. Strauss-Kahn’s lawyers confirmed only that negotiations for a settlement were under way ahead of today’s hearing and that they were “hoping” for a deal within days.
UNITED STATES
Couples wed in Washington
As midnight chimed in Washington state, a lesbian couple exchanged vows in the first of hundreds of mass weddings yesterday — the first day that same-sex couples could legally tie the knot there. Washington, Maine and Maryland became the first US states to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples by a popular vote last month, in a leap forward for gay rights. Washington’s law went into effect on Thursday, when hundreds of couples lined up to apply for marriage licenses, and the first legal same-sex weddings began yesterday after a three-day waiting period required of all marriages expired. Judge Mary Yu stepped up to wed a dozen couples at the King County Courthouse in downtown Seattle. The first couple to say “I do” were Sarah and Emily Cofer, a couple who have been together for more than 10 years, the court said. Yu decided to work through the night, marrying couples at 30-minute intervals, because she felt they should not have to wait any longer to tie the knot, her bailiff and law clerk Takao Yamada said.
Australians were downloading virtual private networks (VPNs) in droves, while one of the world’s largest porn distributors said it was blocking users from its platforms as the country yesterday rolled out sweeping online age restriction. Australia in December became the first country to impose a nationwide ban on teenagers using social media. A separate law now requires artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot services to keep certain content — including pornography, extreme violence and self-harm and eating disorder material — from minors or face fines of up to A$49.5 million (US$34.6 million). The country also joined Britain, France and dozens of US states requiring
Hungarian authorities temporarily detained seven Ukrainian citizens and seized two armored cars carrying tens of millions of euros in cash across Hungary on suspicion of money laundering, officials said on Friday. The Ukrainians were released on Friday, following their detention on Thursday, but Hungarian officials held onto the cash, prompting Ukraine to accuse Hungary’s Russia-friendly government of illegally seizing the money. “We will not tolerate this state banditism,” Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said. The seven detained Ukrainians were employees of the Ukrainian state-owned Oschadbank, who were traveling in the two armored cars that were carrying the money between Austria and
Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani on Friday after dissolving the Kosovar parliament said a snap election should be held as soon as possible to avoid another prolonged political crisis in the Balkan country at a time of global turmoil. Osmani said it is important for Kosovo to wrap up the upcoming election process and form functional institutions for political stability as the war rages in the Middle East. “Precisely because the geopolitical situation is that complex, it is important to finish this electoral process which is coming up,” she said. “It is very hard now to imagine what will happen next.” Kosovo, which declared
MORE BANS: Australia last year required sites to remove accounts held by under-16s, with a few countries pushing for similar action at an EU level and India considering its own ban Indonesia on Friday said it would ban social media access for children under 16, citing threats from online pornography, cyberbullying, online fraud and Internet addiction. “Accounts belonging to children under 16 on high-risk platforms will start to be deactivated, beginning with YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Bigo Live and Roblox,” Indonesian Minister of Communications and Digital Meutya Hafid said. “The government is stepping in so that parents no longer have to fight alone against the giants of the algorithm. Implementation will begin on March 28, 2026,” she said. The social media ban would be introduced in stages “until all platforms fulfill their
RSS