French president splits with first lady
PARIS – French President François Hollande has split with the country’s first lady two weeks after a tabloid reported the leader was having an affair with an actress, an official said Saturday.
A presidential aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed Hollande ended his seven-year relationship with Valerie Trierweiler.
The breakup was first reported by French news agency Agence France-Presse, which said Hollande told it in a telephone conversation Saturday evening “I make it known that I have put an end” to the relationship with Trierweiler.
15 people killed in bombings across Iraq
BAGHDAD – A series of bombings across Iraq killed 15 people Saturday, including a soldier and his entire family, authorities said.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for Saturday’s attacks. But multiple bombings against civilians and security forces are frequently the work of the al-Qaida affiliate in Iraq.
Since late December, members of Iraq’s al-Qaida branch – known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – have taken over parts of Ramadi, the capital of the largely Sunni province of Anbar. They also control the center of the nearby city of Fallujah. Government forces and allied tribes have been trying to wrest control back from the militants since.
Kidnappers to Egypt: Release commander
TRIPOLI, Libya – Kidnappers and their six Egyptian hostages in Libya urged Egyptian authorities Saturday to release a Libyan militia commander they are holding in exchange for the freedom of the hostages, all but one embassy staff member and diplomats.
The demands were made through a phone call with Dubai-based broadcaster Al-Arabiya, hours after Egypt announced it was withdrawing embassy personnel from Tripoli, where the two diplomats, three staff members and another Egyptian national were abducted from their homes overnight.
The abductions came hours after Libya’s state news agency reported Egyptian authorities had arrested Shaaban Hadiya, commander of the Revolutionaries Operation Room militia. The Libyan government blamed the group for the abduction of Prime Minister Ali Zidan last year. It claims to answer to the army but is widely seen as operating independently.
At least 8 dead from fire in Quebec
L’ISLE-VERTE, Quebec – Crews struggled with frigid temperatures and ice as thick as two feet as they searched Saturday for more bodies in the remains of a burned-out Quebec retirement home as friends and relatives of the victims awaited news. Just eight bodies of the 32 presumed dead have been recovered.
A massive blaze swept through the three-story building in L’Isle-Verte, about 140 miles northeast of Quebec City early Thursday. Quebec Provincial Police Lt. Guy Lapointe at a news conference lowered the number of missing from about 30 to 24 based on more detailed information. The official confirmed death toll remained at eight.
Peru: President cleared in sterilization case
LIMA, Peru – Peruvian prosecutors say they have dropped a criminal investigation against former President Alberto Fujimori and health ministers who served under him over a 1990s mass sterilization program under which thousands of women say they were forcibly sterilized.
The probe had been reopened in 2011 under pressure from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. But in a statement Friday, prosecutor Marco Guzman said he had shelved the inquiry against Fujimori and 26 former high-ranking officials after deciding no crime against humanity had been committed.
Sigfredo Florian, a lawyer representing the victims, said they would appeal.
Jordan to enforce 2008 smoking ban
AMMAN, Jordan – In Jordan, a country where smoking is so popular that motorists can be seen puffing away on miniature water pipes in traffic, the kingdom’s government now wants to enforce a Western-style smoking ban in restaurants, cafes and other public places.
The ban, coming from a law passed in 2008 but not fully enforced, also would see the government revoke the licenses of all 6,000 coffee shops that serve shisha by the end of this year.
But business owners and smokers are criticizing the push, saying it goes against the culture of a country where smoking is seen as an attractive sign of manhood and elderly Bedouins roll their own cigarettes in public.
Associated Press
