Kurds capture major Iraq border crossing
BEIRUT – Syrian Kurdish gunmen on Saturday seized a major border crossing with Iraq from al-Qaida-linked groups following intense infighting between rebel groups that raised concerns of a spillover, activists and an Iraqi official said.
The latest violence coincided with a visit by the U.N.-Arab League envoy to Iran, a staunch ally of President Bashar Assad’s government, to press efforts for international peace talks aimed at ending the civil war, now in its third year.
The Kurdish militiamen captured the Yaaroubiyeh post in northeast Syria after three days of clashes with several jihadist groups there, including Jabhat al-Nusra and the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant.
An Iraqi intelligence official confirmed that Kurdish rebels now held the crossing point – one of two main crossings with Iraq – adding that Baghdad brought reinforcements to the area to prevent any spillover of violence.
Malaysia bans Ke$ha concert
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Authorities in Muslim-majority Malaysia have banned a planned concert by U.S. pop singer Ke$ha after deciding it would hurt cultural and religious sensitivities.
Concert organizer Livescape said it received a letter about the decision on the eve of the show that was to be held Saturday at a Kuala Lumpur stadium.
The Ministry of Communications and Multimedia said separately that it was rejecting the application for Ke$ha to perform for reasons of religion and culture.
The ministry’s statement did not elaborate. Ke$ha, whose hits include “Tik Tok” and “Die Young,” has songs that make explicit references to sex and liquor.
Last month, Malaysian officials also barred a performance by American metal band Lamb of God, accusing the Grammy-nominated group’s work of being blasphemous.
Ke$ha and her team had previously agreed to modify their planned show in Malaysia, including making changes to her song lyrics and wardrobe, to comply with the government’s general guidelines for performers, Livescape said in its statement.
Livescape said it was losing more than $350,000 because of the ban. It urged the Malaysian government to “engage in a productive dialogue” with concert promoters to prevent similar incidents.
Golden Dawn protested by 1,000 in Greece
ATHENS, Greece – More than 1,000 Golden Dawn supporters have demonstrated in central Athens against the prosecution of the leader of their Nazi-inspired party and its legislators.
The extreme-right, anti-immigrant Golden Dawn is under a criminal investigation regarding last month’s fatal stabbing of a Greek rap singer.
Party leader and legislator Nikos Michaloliakos and two other Golden Dawn lawmakers are in pre-trial custody as alleged members of a criminal organization. Six other Golden Dawn legislators, including party spokesman Ilias Kassidiaris, have been stripped of immunity from prosecution.
During Saturday’s peaceful protest, Kassidiaris told reporters it was designed to demand the immediate release of Michaloliakos and the two other jailed lawmakers.
An “anti-fascist” rally and march of similar size took place earlier Saturday, and police prevented it from reaching the Golden Dawn rally.
Algeria announces major oil discovery
ALGIERS, Algeria – Algeria’s energy minister says a new oil field containing an estimated 1.3 billion barrels has been discovered.
Youcef Yousfi told the state news agency Saturday that the discovery near the large oil fields in the southern region of Hassi Messaoud is one of the most important in the last 20 years.
He added the state oil company, Sonatrach, will rely on unconventional techniques to extract 50 percent of the reserves, including hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking.
The field will be exploited in the next three to four years following the necessary studies, the report added.
Algeria, an energy giant in Africa that already is one of the largest natural gas suppliers to Europe, had been concerned about declining oil reserves.
No party wins majority in Czech election
PRAGUE – A special parliamentary election held in the Czech Republic left no party with a majority on Saturday, which could lead to protracted negotiations aimed at forming a coalition government.
The two-day election was called to end a political crisis triggered by the center-right government’s collapse in a whirlwind of allegations about corruption and marital infidelity.
With all the votes counted by the Czech Statistics Office, the left-wing Social Democrats won 20.45 percent, or 50 seats, in the 200-seat lower house of Parliament. The party’s ally, the Communists, finished third, receiving 14.91 percent of the vote, or 33 seats.
The Communists had hoped to give the Social Democrats their tacit support in a government that would give the Communists a share of the power for the first time since the 1989 Velvet Revolution, which ended 40 years of communist rule in the country.
“The result is not what we expected,” Bohuslav Sobotka, the chairman of the Social Democrats, said, referring to the worst election result for his party since 1993, when Czechoslovakia split into two countries: the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Chinese activist’s mom, brother to visit him in US
BEIJING – Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng’s mother and oldest brother have been granted visas to visit Chen in the U.S., where he has lived since shortly after escaping house arrest in China last year.
The brother, Chen Guangfu, said Saturday that he and his mother, Wang Jinxiang, were given the visas on Thursday and will soon travel to New York, where Chen Guangcheng lives with his wife and two children.
“Mom has always wanted to see Guangcheng, but it is not likely for him to return home for the time being. I am fulfilling her wish,” Chen Guangfu said of his mother, who is about 80 years old.
The activist, who is blind, sparked a diplomatic crisis in April 2012 when he escaped house arrest in his rural town in east China’s Shandong province and sought refuge in the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. Chinese officials later let him move to the U.S.
Associated Press
