News in Brief
MOSCOW (Dispatches) -- Russia's top domestic security agency says it has detained 69 suspected members of an outlawed Takfiri group during a raid near Moscow.
The Federal Security Service, or FSB, said the suspects belonged to Tablighi Jamaat, a global Takfiri missionary movement that has been banned in Russia as an extremist group.
The FSB said it detained the suspected group members during Tuesday's raid and confiscated the group's literature. It said natives of formerly Soviet Central Asian nations led the Moscow cell of the group.
The raid follows a series of arrests of suspects accused of involvement in radical and extremist Takfiri groups in Russia.
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ATHENS (Reuters) -- A group of mainly Syrian women and children who have been stranded in Greece pitched tents opposite parliament in Athens on Tuesday in a protest against delays in reuniting with relatives in Germany.
Some of the refugees, who say they have been in Greece for over a year, said they had begun a hunger strike.
"Our family ties our stronger than your illegal agreements," read a banner held up by one woman, referring to deals on refugees between European Union nations.
Greek media have reported that Greece and Germany informally agreed in May to slow down refugee reunification, stranding families in Greece for months after they fled Syria's civil war. Greece denies this.
Migration Minister Yannis Mouzalas told reporters Greece had assurances from Germany that refugees whose applications have been accepted will eventually go to Germany even if there are delays. Applications for asylum, reunification and relocation to other European countries can take months to be processed..
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WASHINGTON (AP) -- A second woman emerged Monday to accuse Roy Moore of sexually assaulting her as a teenager in the late 1970s, this time in a locked car, further roiling the Alabama Republican's candidacy for an open Senate seat.
Moore strongly denied it, even as his own party's leaders intensified their efforts to push him out of the race.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell took a remarkably personal swipe at his party's candidate for a Senate seat the GOP cannot afford to lose. "I believe the women," he said, marking an intensified effort by leaders to ditch Moore before a Dec. 12 special election that has swung from an assured GOP victory to one that Democrats could conceivably swipe.
Moore abruptly called a news conference in Gallant, Alabama, after a tearful Beverly Young Nelson's detailed the new allegations to reporters in New York.
"I can tell you without hesitation this is absolutely false. I never did what she said I did. I don't even know the woman," Moore said.
***
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) -- An anti-corruption court in Pakistan Tuesday issued an arrest warrant for Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, media reported, after the veteran politician failed to turn up for several court hearings.
Dar, who has been charged with amassing wealth beyond his known sources of income, has for three weeks missed court hearings conducted by the anti-graft agency the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), prompting a judge to issue a non-bailable arrest warrant, the English-language Dawn newspaper and other media reported.
Dar, who is receiving medical treatment in London and now faces arrest upon his return to Pakistan, has pleaded not guilty.
***
BOSTON, Mass (AP) -- International enrollments at U.S. colleges have fared better than expected this year, but many schools still fear the country’s political climate, according to a national survey. The Institute of International Education reported Monday that the number of new students coming from abroad fell by an average of seven percent at nearly 500 colleges and universities surveyed this fall, but said the results from school to school are more mixed than many had feared.
Many schools nevertheless have concerns about the U.S. political climate and fear that it could drive students away.
While 45% of schools saw declines in international enrollment, nearly a third said their numbers have increased since last year, the survey found. The remaining 24% said they saw no change.
***
BRUSSELS (AFP) -- The EU removed Colombia's FARC from its list of terrorist organizations, an official told AFP, after the former guerilla movement disarmed as part of a peace deal and relaunched itself as a political party.
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which battled the government for half a century in a conflict that left some 260,000 people dead, reached a historic peace deal last year and its former leader now plans to run for president.
The decision to remove FARC from the list permanently comes after the EU suspended its terror listing in September 2016 in a bid to help the peace process in Colombia.
"The Council adopted the legal acts providing for the de-listing of the FARC from the EU list of individuals and entities subject to restrictive measures to combat terrorism," an EU official told AFP, adding that the decision would be announced officially on Tuesday.
After agreeing to the peace deal and disarming, the rebels transformed their movement into a political party, keeping the same initials but changing the official name to the Common Alternative Revolutionary Force.
The Federal Security Service, or FSB, said the suspects belonged to Tablighi Jamaat, a global Takfiri missionary movement that has been banned in Russia as an extremist group.
The FSB said it detained the suspected group members during Tuesday's raid and confiscated the group's literature. It said natives of formerly Soviet Central Asian nations led the Moscow cell of the group.
The raid follows a series of arrests of suspects accused of involvement in radical and extremist Takfiri groups in Russia.
***
ATHENS (Reuters) -- A group of mainly Syrian women and children who have been stranded in Greece pitched tents opposite parliament in Athens on Tuesday in a protest against delays in reuniting with relatives in Germany.
Some of the refugees, who say they have been in Greece for over a year, said they had begun a hunger strike.
"Our family ties our stronger than your illegal agreements," read a banner held up by one woman, referring to deals on refugees between European Union nations.
Greek media have reported that Greece and Germany informally agreed in May to slow down refugee reunification, stranding families in Greece for months after they fled Syria's civil war. Greece denies this.
Migration Minister Yannis Mouzalas told reporters Greece had assurances from Germany that refugees whose applications have been accepted will eventually go to Germany even if there are delays. Applications for asylum, reunification and relocation to other European countries can take months to be processed..
***
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A second woman emerged Monday to accuse Roy Moore of sexually assaulting her as a teenager in the late 1970s, this time in a locked car, further roiling the Alabama Republican's candidacy for an open Senate seat.
Moore strongly denied it, even as his own party's leaders intensified their efforts to push him out of the race.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell took a remarkably personal swipe at his party's candidate for a Senate seat the GOP cannot afford to lose. "I believe the women," he said, marking an intensified effort by leaders to ditch Moore before a Dec. 12 special election that has swung from an assured GOP victory to one that Democrats could conceivably swipe.
Moore abruptly called a news conference in Gallant, Alabama, after a tearful Beverly Young Nelson's detailed the new allegations to reporters in New York.
"I can tell you without hesitation this is absolutely false. I never did what she said I did. I don't even know the woman," Moore said.
***
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) -- An anti-corruption court in Pakistan Tuesday issued an arrest warrant for Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, media reported, after the veteran politician failed to turn up for several court hearings.
Dar, who has been charged with amassing wealth beyond his known sources of income, has for three weeks missed court hearings conducted by the anti-graft agency the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), prompting a judge to issue a non-bailable arrest warrant, the English-language Dawn newspaper and other media reported.
Dar, who is receiving medical treatment in London and now faces arrest upon his return to Pakistan, has pleaded not guilty.
***
BOSTON, Mass (AP) -- International enrollments at U.S. colleges have fared better than expected this year, but many schools still fear the country’s political climate, according to a national survey. The Institute of International Education reported Monday that the number of new students coming from abroad fell by an average of seven percent at nearly 500 colleges and universities surveyed this fall, but said the results from school to school are more mixed than many had feared.
Many schools nevertheless have concerns about the U.S. political climate and fear that it could drive students away.
While 45% of schools saw declines in international enrollment, nearly a third said their numbers have increased since last year, the survey found. The remaining 24% said they saw no change.
***
BRUSSELS (AFP) -- The EU removed Colombia's FARC from its list of terrorist organizations, an official told AFP, after the former guerilla movement disarmed as part of a peace deal and relaunched itself as a political party.
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which battled the government for half a century in a conflict that left some 260,000 people dead, reached a historic peace deal last year and its former leader now plans to run for president.
The decision to remove FARC from the list permanently comes after the EU suspended its terror listing in September 2016 in a bid to help the peace process in Colombia.
"The Council adopted the legal acts providing for the de-listing of the FARC from the EU list of individuals and entities subject to restrictive measures to combat terrorism," an EU official told AFP, adding that the decision would be announced officially on Tuesday.
After agreeing to the peace deal and disarming, the rebels transformed their movement into a political party, keeping the same initials but changing the official name to the Common Alternative Revolutionary Force.