Mes: agosto 2019

(AP) TOLEMAIDA, Colombia – Their peace talks don’t begin until next month, and the Colombian government and the country’s main leftist rebel movement already have run into differences. Just hours after leaders of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia proposed on Thursday that both sides observe a truce during the negotiations, President Juan Manuel Santos firmly rejected the idea. Santos said there would be no end to fighting until a peace accord is agreed on. He said Colombia’s military and police have been told to intensify offensive actions. “There’s not going to be any cease-fire. We will not give anything until we get the final agreement, and I want to make that very clear,” the president told reporters at a military base in central Colombia. Santos, who spoke after meeting with more than 100 generals and colonels, did not respond to questions. There was no immediate comment from the FARC rebels. Leaders of the movement said during a news conference in Cuba that their first item on the negotiations’ agenda would be to propose a truce in Colombia’s half-century of fighting that has killed tens of thousands. “We will propose a cease-fire the moment we sit down at the table,” said Mauricio Jaramillo, a spokesman and top FARC leader. “We are going to discuss it.” Before Santos rejected that idea, he said during a radio interview Thursday that a...

(AP) BEIRUT – Armed Shiite clansmen in Lebanon said Wednesday they had captured more than 20 Syrians and will hold them until one of their relatives seized by rebels inside Syria is freed. The tensions were a stark reminder of how easily Syria’s civil war could spill over to neighboring states. In Geneva, a U.N. investigation said Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces and pro-government militiamen were responsible for war crimes during a May bloodbath in the village of Houla that killed more than 100 civilians, nearly half of them children. It also said rebels were blamed for war crimes in at least three other killings. The report by the U.N. Human Rights Council said the scale of the Houla carnage indicated “involvement at the highest levels” of Syria’s military and government. It is first time the U.N. has described events in Syria’s civil war as war crimes and could be used in possible future prosecution against Assad or others. The council also said the conflict is moving in increasingly “brutal” directions on both sides. Hotel used by U.N. observers rocked by explosion in Damascus, Syria’s capital cityPentagon: Iran training militiamen for AssadU.S. lifts sanctions on ex-Syria PM More in After the Arab Spring As the fighting deepens, so do the fears of it triggering unrest in fragile Lebanon, which is deeply divided between supporters and opponents of President Bashar...

(AP) HAMILTON, Bermuda – Tropical Storm Leslie moved slowly northward Saturday after pausing to spin in place over the Atlantic, and forecasters expected it would regain strength and become a hurricane before passing to the east of Bermuda. The latest forecasts pointed to the storm going by about 200 miles (320 kilometers) east-southeast of the British territory Sunday afternoon or evening as a Category 1 hurricane, the Bermuda Weather Service said. “It appears that Bermuda will be spared a direct impact,” Wayne Perinchief, the national security minister, said Friday. “However, I urge the public to remain cautious as there is the potential for the storm to re-intensify and change track, and we could experience heavy rain and winds in shower bands.” Some businesses closed early Friday and shops were crowded for a second day with people buying emergency supplies. At least one cruise ship canceled a stop in Bermuda and the airport was expected to close. Bermuda, a wealthy offshore financial haven and tourist destination, has strong building codes and is accustomed to storms, and many people on the island followed Leslie without fear. “I have taken precautions,” said Gareth Kerr, 29. “The windows have the shutters across and I got supplies such as water and tinned food. If the weather is bad tomorrow I’ll just sit indoors.” Leslie weakens to tropical storm off Bermuda Still, there was the...