Syria rebels, army agree on truce near key city
BEIRUT – Syrian rebels and government forces have agreed to a truce in an opposition-held area near the central city of Homs, activists said Saturday.
The cease-fire, which started Friday, comes as troops loyal to President Bashar Assad are trying to seize as many rebel-held parts of major urban centers as possible ahead of the June 3 presidential elections.
Assad is widely expected to win a third, seven-year mandate, but opposition activists have criticized the vote as being illegitimate because it is taking place amid a raging civil war. Syria’s conflict, which began as an uprising against Assad’s rule, now is in its fourth year and has killed about 160,000 people, activists say.
3 killed, 1 injured at Brussels museum
BRUSSELS – Three people were killed and one seriously injured in a spree of gunfire at the Jewish Museum in Brussels on Saturday, officials said.
The attack, which came on the eve of national and European Parliament elections, led officials to raise anti-terror measures.
Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders, who was in the vicinity, said the scene “was terrible and left me shocked” as he saw two of the three dead lying at the entry of the museum, located in the swanky Sablon neighborhood.
Interior Minister Joelle Milquet told reporters that the shooter apparently parked a car outside before entering the Jewish Museum. She added the gunman “apparently fired rather quickly, went outside and left.”
Brussels mayor Yvan Mayeur said police had a good lead for a suspect but refused to elaborate.
Turkish drama wins Cannes’ Palme d’Or
CANNES, France – The Chekhovian Turkish drama “Winter Sleep” was awarded the Palme d’Or on Saturday at the 67th annual Cannes Film Festival.
Director Nuri Bilge Ceylan accepted Cannes’ top honor, handed out by Quentin Tarantino and Uma Thurman.
For the second year in a row, the festival awarded its top honor to a film running more than three hours. A year after the French coming-of-age tale “Blue Is the Warmest Color” won the Palme, the jury headed by Jane Campion opted for Ceylan’s ruminative drama about a wealthy family running a hotel in the snowy Turkish hills and their strained relationship with their village tenants.
Top Bahrain activist released from prison
MANAMA, Bahrain – A prominent human-rights activist in Bahrain was released from prison Saturday after spending nearly two years behind bars.
Nabeel Rajab, who heads the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, was sentenced to three years in 2012 on charges of encouraging “illegal gatherings” tied to anti-government protests in the country. An appeals court later reduced his term by a year.
The activist is a key icon for the protest movement against the Gulf Arab monarchy’s Sunni rulers. Since 2011, the country’s majority Shiites have been protesting, demanding greater rights and political freedoms.
Quake rattles Greece, Turkey; 266 injured
THESSALONIKI, Greece – An earthquake beneath the sea shook northern Greece and western Turkey on Saturday, with 266 people reportedly injured in Turkey.
The quake struck at 12:25 p.m. local time southwest of the Greek island of Samothraki, 185 miles northeast of the capital Athens. It was close to the Turkish island of Gokceada and the Greek island of Lemnos.
The Institute of Geophysics at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki said the magnitude of the quake was 6.3. The U.S. Geological Survey initially reported a magnitude of 6.4, later revised to 6.9.
The quake damaged some buildings in the province, including two mosques, but there were no reports of any structures collapsing.
Associated Press
