Leaders struggle for response to migrant crisis
Leaders struggle for response to migrant crisis
MILAN (AP) — Shaken by the feared drowning of as many as 900 people in the latest Mediterranean tragedy, European leaders struggled Monday for an adequate response in the face of unremitting migrant flows and continued instability in Libya that has given free rein to human traffickers.
Even as the search continued for victims, coast guard ships rushed to respond to new distress calls on the high seas — two off Libya and a third boat that ran aground near Greece.
Decrying what he called an “escalation in these death voyages,” Italian Premier Matteo Renzi urged Europe to put the focus on preventing more boats from leaving Libya, the source of 90 percent of migrant traffic to Italy.
Warship prepared to block shipments
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a stepped-up response to Iranian backing of Shiite rebels in Yemen, a Navy aircraft carrier, the USS Theodore Roosevelt, is steaming toward the waters off Yemen to beef up security and join other American ships prepared to intercept any Iranian vessels carrying weapons to the Houthi rebels.
The deployment comes after a U.N. Security Council resolution approved last week imposed an arms embargo on the Iranian-backed Shiite Houthi rebels. The resolution passed in a 14-0 vote with Russia abstaining.
Navy officials said Monday that the Roosevelt was moving through the Arabian Sea.
Strikes flatten houses, hit near Iran Embassy
SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Saudi-led airstrikes hit weapons caches controlled by Iran-backed Shiite rebels, touching off massive explosions Monday in Yemen’s capital that killed at least 19 people and buried scores of others under the rubble of flattened homes.
After the coalition airstrikes, mushroom clouds rose over the mountainous outskirts of Sanaa, where the arms depots are located. The Fag Atan area has been targeted several times since March 26, the start of the air campaign against the rebels known as Houthis.
“It was like the doors of hell opened all of a sudden,” said Mohammed Sarhan. “I felt the house lift up and fall.”
6 Minnesotans charged with trying to join IS
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Six Minnesota men are being charged with terrorism in a criminal complaint unsealed Monday, the latest Westerners accused of traveling or attempting to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State.
The six, whom authorities described as friends who met secretly to plan their travels, are accused of conspiracy to provide material support and attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization.
Charged are brothers Mohamed Abdihamid Farah, 21, and Adnan Abdihamid Farah, 19; Abdurahman Yasin Daud, 21; Zacharia Yusuf Abdurahman, 19; Hanad Mustafe Musse, 19; and Guled Ali Omar, 20. All are Somali-Americans, authorities said.
Woman sentenced in deaths of babies
PROVO, Utah (AP) — A Utah woman who pleaded guilty to killing six of her newborn babies and hiding their bodies in her garage was sentenced to up to life in prison Monday in a case that drew national attention and sent shockwaves through her quiet community.
Judge Darold McDade handed down the term for Megan Huntsman, who told police she was too addicted to methamphetamine to care for more children.
Huntsman, 40, pleaded guilty to six counts of murder in February. She said in court papers she wanted to take responsibility in the deaths.
The judge gave her the maximum sentence — at least 30 years and up to life in prison. A parole board will decide her release date later.
The sentence brings closure to a case that shocked residents of Pleasant Grove, the mostly Mormon community where Huntsman stored her babies’ tiny bodies for more than a decade. Pleasant Grove is about 45 miles south of Salt Lake City and has a population of 35,000.
Washington Post reporter jailed in Iran faces 4 charges, including espionage, says his lawyer
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — A Washington Post reporter jailed for nearly nine months in Iran faces charges of espionage and three other crimes, his lawyer revealed Monday following her first in-depth meeting with the journalist.
The Post, citing a statement from defense lawyer Leila Ahsan, said Jason Rezaian also faces charges of “conducting propaganda against the establishment,” ”collaborating with hostile governments” and “collecting information about internal and foreign policy and providing them to individuals with malicious intent.”
In an interview with The Associated Press, Ahsan described the journalist as being in good spirits and health, but said his continued detention alongside other inmates and a lack of access to outside media has taken a toll on his well-being.
Ahsan’s comments were the first confirmation of the exact charges Rezaian faces.
Post Executive Editor Martin Baron said in a statement that Ahsan’s meeting with Rezaian on Monday lasted 90 minutes and was conducted in the presence of an official translator. Baron said the charges, which he described as “ludicrous,” carry a maximum penalty of 10 to 20 years in prison.