U.S. pledges $100M to Syrian opposition
MANAMA, Bahrain – The United States ramped up its support for Syria’s opposition with a pledge of nearly $100 million in fresh aid on Saturday.
The American promise of cash, which it says brings to nearly $500 million the amount it has pledged to the opposition since 2012, came a day after the U.S. announced it was intensifying its fight against the Islamic State group in Syria with the deployment of up to 50 special operations troops.
The funds will support local and provincial councils, civil society activists, emergency services and other needs on the ground inside Syria.
Singer at nightclub did not realize danger
BUCHAREST, Romania – Survivors of a deadly nightclub fire and stampede in Romania say the lead singer of the heavy metal band on stage first made a joke about the fire before it engulfed the basement club in downtown Bucharest.
Hundreds of young people had gone clubbing at the hip Colectiv nightclub on Friday to enjoy a free concert by Goodbye to Gravity. The evening ended in horror, as the inferno caused a panic that killed 27 people and injured 180 others.
Around 146 people remained hospitalized Saturday, some in critical condition suffering from burns and smoke inhalation.
Witnesses said between 300 and 400 young people had been at the club, housed in a former factory, when a pyrotechnical show went awry. They said there was only one exit.
Greek banks need $15.8B for recovery
FRANKFURT, Germany – The European Central Bank says Greece’s battered banks need $15.8 billion in fresh money to get back on their feet and resume normal business.
The figure announced Saturday is the result of an ECB review of Greece’s four main banks following an agreement on the troubled country’s third bailout: $94.6 billion from other eurozone governments in August.
The review is an important step toward ending limits on bank customer withdrawals and transfers that continue to hamper businesses as the Greek economy struggles to recover.
Part of that capital could come from private investors; what can’t be raised from investors would come from bailout funds.
11-year-old Nigerian alleges brutal assault
KANO, Nigeria – Nigerian officials have ordered a boarding school closed and police are investigating a boy’s allegations of brutal and repeated sexual assault.
Authorities in Nigeria’s northern Kano city acted late Friday after a nurse refused to treat the child unless police were informed because of the gravity of his injuries, his mother said.
She said her 11-year-old son complained his bottom was so sore he could not walk. She said the child told her he had been repeatedly raped in his dorm at night by an unknown person. He has since received death threats.
Officials of the Hassan Ibrahim Gwarzo College declined comment.
The Associated Press
