NEWS OF THE DAY
From Around the World
1 Cambodia politics: The government took initial legal steps Friday to dissolve the country’s main opposition party, the latest in a series of moves to gain an advantage ahead of next year’s general election. The Interior Ministry filed a lawsuit with the Supreme Court asking for the Cambodia National Rescue Party to be dissolved on the grounds that it was involved in a plot to topple the government. The court is likely to uphold the complaint, because the country’s court system is widely considered to be under the political influence of the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen. The CNRP is the only party aside from the ruling Cambodian People’s Party with representatives in parliament.
2 Cardinal on trial: Cardinal George Pell, the most senior Catholic official to face sex offense charges, was jeered by protesters as he made a court appearance in his native Australia on Friday in a case that has rocked the Vatican and placed scrutiny on the pope’s stance against abusive clergy. Australia’s highestranking Catholic and Pope Francis’ top financial adviser, Pell entered the Melbourne Magistrates Court flanked by police and media as a small group of placard-waving protesters yelled from the sidewalk. Pell, who remained silent throughout, has been charged with multiple offenses involving multiple complainants. As many as 50 witnesses could be called for that proceeding, expected to last a month.
3 Fake bomb threats: Moscow faced more than 130 fake bomb calls Friday that prompted the evacuation of about 100,000 people from airports, shopping malls, schools, railway stations and office buildings. Among those targeted by the bomb calls were all four Moscow airports, five railway stations, 15 shopping malls, several hotels, more than 20 schools and many other venues, the state Tass news agency said. No explosives have been found in the anonymous calls. It was the latest and the largest flurry of fake bomb threats since a wave of bomb hoaxes began in early September. The fake bomb threats have affected dozens of Russian cities and incurred huge economic damages. The Federal Security Service, the main KGB successor, said it has tracked down four people suspected of engineering the wave of hoaxes.
4 U.S. soldier killed: A fourth American soldier has been found dead after an ambush in Niger this week that killed three U.S. Army Special Forces and wounded two, U.S. officials said Friday. It was not clear whether the American had been captured and killed by militants or whether he had been separated during the fighting that erupted Wednesday. Special Forces troops were ambushed during what was initially called a routine training mission with Nigerien soldiers by what commanders say was a larger, heavily armed al Qaeda force from neighboring Mali.
5 Ancient treasures leveled: Palestinian and French archaeologists began excavating Gaza’s earliest archaeological site nearly 20 years ago, unearthing what they believe is a rare 4,500-yearold Bronze Age settlement. But over protests that grew recently, Gaza’s Hamas rulers have systematically destroyed the work since seizing power a decade ago, allowing the flattening of the hill site on the southern tip of Gaza City to make way for construction projects and military bases. In its newest project, Hamas-supported bulldozers are flattening the last remnants of excavation. Archaeologists found the 25-acre hill to be hiding a fortified settlement built centuries before pharaonic rule in Egypt and 1,000 years before the pyramids.