Flood waters begin to recede in Canada
CALGARY, Alberta – The two rivers that converge on the western Canadian city of Calgary are starting to recede after floods devastated much of southern Alberta province, causing at least three deaths and forcing thousands to evacuate.
The flooding forced authorities to evacuate Calgary’s entire downtown and hit some of the city’s iconic structures hard. The Saddledome, home to the National Hockey League’s Calgary Flames, was flooded up to the 10th row, leaving the dressing rooms submerged.
Bruce Burrell, director of the city’s emergency management agency, said Saturday they are seeing improvements in the rivers. Dan Limacher, director of water services for the city, said the Elbow river is expected to recede by about 60 percent during the next two days, while the larger Bow river will recede by about 25 percent.
Suicide bombers, gunmen kill 23 in Iraq
BAGHDAD – A suicide bombing inside a Shiite mosque during evening prayers and other attacks north of Baghdad killed 23 people in Iraq on Saturday, as officials announced preliminary results for local elections in two provinces that showed the bloc of the country’s speaker of parliament in the lead.
The attacks are the latest in a wave of killing that has killed more than 2,000 people since the start of April. It is the bloodiest and most sustained spate of violence to hit Iraq since 2008.
The deadliest attack happened after sunset when a suicide bomber blew himself up inside a Shiite mosque in the village of Sabaa al-Bour, about 20 miles north of Baghdad. It killed 14 and wounded 32, police said.
Also on Saturday, the United Nations said another 27 residents of a camp housing members of an Iranian exile group have been relocated to Albania. The move follows a deadly rocket attack on the facility last week.
Brazil leader breaks silence about protests
BRASILIA, Brazil – Demonstrators once again took to the streets in Brazil on Saturday, continuing a wave of protests that have shaken the nation and pushed the government to promise a crackdown on corruption and greater spending on social services.
Thousands gathered in the central square of Belo Horizonte and hundreds rallied in several other cities, largely to protest legislation that would limit the power of prosecutors to investigate crimes in a country where many are fed up with the high rate of robberies and killings.
President Dilma Rousseff broke days of silence Friday with a broadcast address in which she vowed to battle corruption while improving government services, acknowledging the anger that has led to more than a week of vast, sometimes violent protests across Latin America’s largest country.
She said she planned to soon meet with leaders of the protest movement, governors and the mayors of major cities. But it remained unclear who could represent the massive and decentralized groups of demonstrators taking to the streets with a range of grievances, including woeful public services despite a high tax burden..
Police disperse protesters in Istanbul square
ISTANBUL – Turkish police used water cannon to disperse thousands who had gathered in Istanbul’s central Taksim Square on Saturday to observe a memorial for four people killed during a wave of anti-government protests.
The police move, which was more restrained then previous times, came as the demonstrations had appeared to be subsiding in recent days, and as Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared that foreign-led conspirators he alleges are behind the anti-government movement in his country also are fomenting the recent unrest in Brazil.
On Saturday, demonstrators converged in Taksim, where they lay down carnations in remembrance of at least three protesters and a police officer killed in the rallies. For about two hours, protesters shouted anti-government slogans and demanded that Erdogan resign before police warned them to leave the square.
After the warnings were ignored, police pushed back protesters with water cannon, even chasing stragglers down side streets and apparently blocking entrances to the square. But unlike previous demonstrations, police refrained from using tear gas and there was no immediate report of any major violence.
Pope misses Vatican concert due to commitments
VATICAN CITY – Organizers say Pope Francis didn’t show up for a concert in the Vatican due to other commitments.
The pontiff was expected at a Beethoven concert, but Monsignor Rino Fisichella told the audience just before the concert was to start that Francis couldn’t make it because of “commitments that could not be postponed.” He did not elaborate.
The pope was smiling with no signs of tiredness when he greeted worshippers at a Mass in St. Peter’s earlier Saturday. Unlike his predecessor Benedict, who was well-known as a music lover, Francis has shown scant interest in music, liturgical or otherwise.
Associated Press
