International Glance
The decision by a Rome high school to install condom vending machines has set off a storm in Italy, with the Catholic Church charging the move will encourage young people to have sex and Rome's mayor saying it sends the wrong message.
But the Keplero high school vowed Thursday to go ahead with its experiment, billed as the first in the capital. While it's a relative novelty for Italy, schools in several other European countries have installed the machines in hopes of curbing teen pregnancy and HIV.
"This is not about stimulating the use of condoms or intercourse," Antonio Panaccione, the school headmaster, told The Associated Press. "On the contrary, it's about prevention and education."
The school plans to install six vending machines as part of educating students about sexuality and HIV protection. The price: euro2 (US$2.70) for a pack of three, lower than market prices.
Vatican Criticizes Condom Machines In Rome School
Pinera assumes Chile presidency amid strong quakes
The strongest aftershock since Chile's devastating earthquake rocked the South American country Thursday as President Sebastian Pinera was sworn into office.The 7.2-magnitude aftershock was stronger than the quake that destroyed the Haitian capital on Jan. 12.
There were no immediate reports of damages or injuries but the temblor - and at least three other aftershocks - strongly swayed buildings - shook windows and provoked nervous smiles among the dignitaries attending Pinera's inauguration at the congressional building in coastal Valparaiso.
The biggest aftershock happened along the same fault zone as Chile's magnitude-8.8 quake on Feb. 27, said geophysicist Don Blakeman at the U.S. Geological Survey in Golden, Colorado.
Israel Palestine peace talks break down over settlement row
Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian President, has pulled out of planned peace talks in the wake of Israel’s announcement it is to build 1,600 new homes in the occupied West Bank.
"The Palestinian president decided he will not enter into those negotiations now ... the Palestinian side is not ready to negotiate under the present circumstances,” Amr Moussa, the Arab League Secretary-General, told reporters in Cairo.
“The talks have already stopped,” he said.
Pakistan militants attack U.S. Christian aid group, killing six
Militants stormed the northern Pakistan offices of a U.S. Christian aid group Wednesday, killing six workers and injuring five, police said.
The attack took place in the Mansehra district, where World Vision opened an office to help victims of the 2005 earthquake that killed more than 70,000 people in Pakistan. All of the dead and injured in the assault were Pakistanis.
Villagers in the area said the gunmen came down from a nearby ridge, burst into the charity group's compound and began spraying gunfire and tossing hand grenades. "We heard gunshots and loud explosions from inside the compound," said Munawar Shah, a villager. "The gunmen had their faces masked. They started firing indiscriminately inside."
The U.S. will no longer turn a blind eye to Israeli settlements
Even Mahmoud Abbas would have been hard put to dream up a greater victory for Palestinian diplomacy than the one handed to him Tuesday on a silver platter by the Israeli Interior Ministry. The condemnations have been pouring in since the plan to build 1,600 homes in Jerusalem's Ramat Shlomo neighborhood was announced. Not only from U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, but from the United Nations, the European Union and world leaders, all of them slamming the decision.
While government officials were busy yesterday blaming each other for the bad timing, it seems they were missing the bigger picture: Washington and the international community will no longer accept, even by looking the other way, Israeli construction in East Jerusalem. The capital is now the focus of the cold (but slowly warming) war between Israel and the Palestinians.
The Palestinian Authority is exploiting this with weekly demonstrations, while Israel throws fuel on the fire by taking further unilateral steps. The situation is only likely to escalate this morning with the expected disclosure of full details of the city's building plans.
Pope's brother admits hitting students
Monsignor Georg Ratzinger, brother of Pope Benedict XVI, admitted hitting students while he was director of the most prominent Catholic boys' choir in Germany. The allegations of abuse of children in Germany have raised questions about Pope Benedict, who spent his early career as a professor of theology and bishop of Munich before becoming a top Vatican official in 1982.
Ratzinger denied knowing boys were sexually abused. He said the choirmaster was "a king without a kingdom" in the school hierarchy and that the tone was set by the "very violent" headmaster who served from 1953 to 1992. One former student, Franz Wittenbrink, now a composer, has described the headmaster as a sexual sadist.
Israel under pressure over East Jerusalem homes
Israel is coming under growing international pressure following its approval of new housing for Israelis in occupied East Jerusalem. Britain, France, the EU and the Arab League have all added their protests against the decision.
The housing row has overshadowed a visit by US Vice-President Joe Biden which is meant to promote a new round of US-led negotiations. He has condemned the move, saying it undermined trust in the peace process.Israel and the Palestinians had agreed to hold indirect "proximity talks" in a bid to restart the process, which has been stalled for 17 months.
But earlier this week it approved 1,600 new homes for ultra-Orthodox Jews in East Jerusalem.
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