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Ousted Egyptian talks with family, lawyer says

CAIRO – Egypt’s ousted president, Mohammed Morsi, told his wife and children he is in good health in his first conversation with his family since the military removed him from office and detained him in a secret location more than two months ago, one of his lawyers said Wednesday.

The phone calls were an apparent gesture by the military as authorities prepare to put Morsi on trial on charges of inciting the killing of protesters during his year in office – though no date for the trial has been set. Morsi’s legal team so far has not been able to talk to him, said the lawyer, Mostafa Atteyah.

The trial of Egypt’s first freely elected president is one link in a wide-scale crackdown on his Muslim Brotherhood that has eviscerated its leadership and much of its crucial mid-level organizers.

Envoys: Data on rockets link Syria to attack

BEIRUT – The trajectory of the rockets that delivered the nerve agent sarin in last month’s deadly attack is among the key evidence linking elite Syrian troops based in the mountains overlooking Damascus to the strike that killed hundreds of people, diplomats and human rights officials said Wednesday.

The Aug. 21 attack precipitated the crisis over Syria’s chemical weapons. The U.S. threatened a military strike against Syria, which led to a plan negotiated by Moscow and Washington under which the regime of President Bashar Assad is to abandon its chemical weapons stockpile.

A U.N. report released Monday confirmed that chemical weapons were used in the attack but did not ascribe blame.

The report provided data that suggested the chemical-loaded rockets that hit two Damascus suburbs were fired from the northwest, indicating they came from nearby mountains where the Syrian military is known to have major bases.

France considers ban on child pageants

PARIS — Child beauty pageants may soon be banned in France, after a surprise vote in the French Senate that rattled the pageant industry and raised questions about how the French relate to girls’ sexuality.

France, with its controlling traditions, appears to be out front in pushing an outright ban.

French legislators stopped short of approving a measure banning anyone younger than 16 from modeling products meant for grown-ups – a sensitive subject in a country renowned for its fashion and cosmetics industries, and about to host Paris Fashion Week.

The proposed children’s pageant amendment sprouted from a debate on a women’s rights law. The legislation, approved by a vote of 197-146, must go to the lower house of parliament for further debate and another vote.

Associated Press



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