S. Korea says N. Korea fires short-range missiles
SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea fired three short-range guided missiles into its eastern waters on Saturday, a South Korean official said. It routinely tests such missiles, but the latest launches came during a period of tentative diplomacy aimed at easing tensions.
The North fired two missiles Saturday morning and another in the afternoon, South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said by phone. He said the North’s intent was unclear. His ministry said it is watching North Korea carefully in case it conducts a provocation against South Korea.
Suspected U.S. drone in Yemen kills 4 militants
SANAA, Yemen – A suspected U.S. drone strike killed four al-Qaida militants Saturday in a southern Yemeni province once overrun by the group, said security officials.
The officials said the attack took place around dawn in an area called Deyqa in Abyan province. Officials spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to brief the media.
Washington says al-Qaida in Yemen is among the group’s most dangerous and active branches worldwide.
Blasts rock Libya’s capital and eastern city
TRIPOLI, Libya – Libyan officials say explosions went off in the capital Tripoli and the restive eastern city of Benghazi on Saturday, but no casualties were reported.
A security official says one bombing targeted an abandoned church in Benghazi that had been previously damaged by fire. The explosion damaged only a car parked outside.
The official says two other explosions targeted parked security vehicles elsewhere in the city. A soldier was lightly wounded from flying debris.
Syria’s Assad says he won’t step down
BEIRUT – Syrian President Bashar Assad said in a newspaper interview Saturday he won’t step down and will instead “face the storm,” raising new doubts about a U.S-Russian effort to get Assad and his opponents to negotiate an end to the country’s civil war.
In the Syrian capital Damascus, meanwhile, a powerful explosion went off in the Ruken al-Deen neighborhood, killing three people and wounding five, Syrian state TV reported. It said the blast was caused by a car bomb and that experts are dismantling other explosives in the area.
French president signs gay marriage into law
PARIS – France will see its first gay weddings within days, after French President François Hollande signed a law Saturday authorizing marriage and adoption by same-sex couples and ending months of nationwide protests and wrenching debate.
Hollande’s office said he signed the bill Saturday morning, a day after the Constitutional Council struck down a challenge to the law and ruled it in line with France’s constitution.
Hollande, a Socialist, had made legalizing gay marriage one of his campaign pledges last year. While polls for years have shown majority support for gay marriage in France, adoption by same-sex couples is more controversial.
Associated Press
