Peace Corps leaving Kenya over violence

NAIROBI, Kenya – The Peace Corps is suspending its programs in Kenya because of security concerns and is pulling more than 50 volunteers out of the country until threat levels decrease, the Peace Corps and State Department said Thursday.

A statement to The Associated Press from the State Department said that the Peace Corps “has been closely monitoring the security environment in Kenya ... and has decided to officially suspend the program in Kenya.” The Peace Corps will monitor the security situation and determine when volunteers can return, it said.

The decision comes amid a tightening of security by the U.S. Embassy in Kenya, which has seen dozens of grenade and gunfire attacks the last two years.

Netherlands sending police to Ukraine

THE HAGUE, Netherlands – The Netherlands is sending 40 unarmed military police to eastern Ukraine as part of a ramped-up effort to find the last victims of the downed Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 still at the wreckage site, Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced late Thursday.

He also is sending forensic investigators to the site to try to piece together exactly what happened when the plane was shot down a week ago, killing all 298 people on board.

Iraqi lawmakers pick Kurd as president

BAGHDAD –Iraqi lawmakers elected a veteran Kurdish politician on Thursday to replace long-serving Jalal Talabani as the country’s new president in the latest step toward forming a new government. But a series of attacks killed dozens of people and Islamic militants destroyed a Muslim shrine traditionally said to be the burial place of the Prophet Jonah, underscoring the overwhelming challenges facing the divided nation.

The 76-year-old Fouad Massoum, one of the founders of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan party, accepted the position after winning two-thirds of the votes in parliament.

Associated Press