KOSOVO
National phone code granted
The nation is to finally get its own international telephone code in the middle of next month after six years of talks with neighboring Serbia, authorities in Pristina announced on Sunday. The Balkan territory unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008, a move consistently denied by Belgrade. The two sides have been negotiating to improve ties since 2011 under guidance from the EU, but several issues had remained unresolved including disputed state property and, until now, the dialing code. “Kosovo will have its own international dialing code, +383,” Minister for Dialogue Edita Tahiri said. The International Telecommunication Union is to officially launch the code on Dec. 15, she added. Landlines currently use the same dialing code as Serbia. Mobile phone users trying to reach Kosovo from abroad must first dial the code for Monaco or Slovenia.
MEXICO
Missing priest found alive
A priest who was abducted has been found alive after three days, but “with notable signs of torture,” the Roman Catholic Church said on Sunday. The Reverend Jose Luis Sanchez Ruiz was the third priest abducted in Veracruz since September. The other two were found shot to death a few days after they were kidnapped. Although Sanchez Ruiz was spared that fate, his abduction brought new attention to attacks on priests, which also saw another priest killed in Michoacan in September. Prosecutors have suggested that robbery might have been the motive in all three killings this year. His disappearance sparked two days of unrest in Catemaco, which is known for its faith healers and exuberant jungle. Angry residents burned part of the town hall and a police patrol truck while demanding the release of the priest. The Reverend Aaron Reyes, spokesman for the diocese, told the Milenio television news channel that Sanchez Ruiz had been threatened in recent days because of his activism. Sanchez Ruiz took part in a recent protest of high electricity bills, an important issue in the town because of its extreme heat.
UNITED STATES
Musician Leon Russell dies
Musician Leon Russell, a top session player in the 1960s and 1970s who later had a successful solo career with such hits as Tight Rope and Lady Blue, has died. He was 74. An e-mail from Leon Russell Records to The Associated Press said Russell died in Nashville on Saturday night. The e-mail cites Russell’s wife as the source of the information. Russell had heart bypass surgery in July and was recovering from that at the time of his death. Russell was primarily a keyboard player. He played backup for Joe Cocker, Bob Dylan, the Beach Boys and many other artists. John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr played on Russell’s solo debut, Leon Russell.
UNITED STATES
Ninja steals sword
A sword is missing from an Alaska card shop after a burglar in a ninja outfit broke in. KTVA-TV reports security cameras filmed the costumed suspect entering a business in Anchorage sometime after it closed on Friday and leaving with what looked to be the Japanese-style, curved sword. Spenard Bosco’s employee Erich Helmick said inventory is being checked, but that so far it seems the sword is the only item missing. Helmick said the Anchorage Police Department responded to the incident and a report has been filed.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
IN PURSUIT: Israel’s defense minister said the revenge attacks by Israeli settlers would make it difficult for security forces to find those responsible for the 14-year-old’s death Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday condemned the “heinous murder” of an Israeli teenager in the occupied West Bank as attacks on Palestinian villages intensified following news of his death. After Benjamin Achimeir, 14, was reported missing near Ramallah on Friday, hundreds of Jewish settlers backed by Israeli forces raided nearby Palestinian villages, torching vehicles and homes, leaving at least one villager dead and dozens wounded. The attacks escalated in several villages on Saturday after Achimeir’s body was found near the Malachi Hashalom outpost. Agence France-Presse correspondents saw smoke rising from burned houses and fields. Mayor Amin Abu Alyah, of the