Weekly World Headlines

Police detain a protester in downtown Moscow, Russia, Sunday, March 26, 2017. Russias leading opposition figure Alexei Navalny and his supporters aim to hold anti-corruption demonstrations throughout Russia. But authorities are denying permission and police have warned they wont be responsible for "negative consequences" or unsanctioned gatherings. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

AP

Police detain a protester in downtown Moscow, Russia, Sunday, March 26, 2017. Russia’s leading opposition figure Alexei Navalny and his supporters aim to hold anti-corruption demonstrations throughout Russia. But authorities are denying permission and police have warned they won’t be responsible for "negative consequences" or unsanctioned gatherings. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Theresa May seeks early election

British Prime Minister Theresa May shocks the UK political world by calling for an early election in search of a stronger mandate on the topic of leaving the European Union. In an unexpected statement at Downing Street, May said she was seeking a vote on June 8, less than halfway through the government’s five-year term. Opposition parties said they would not block the move, sending Westminster into full-throttle election mode. The European Union brushed off May’s announcement, saying it would not affect the negotiations on Britain’s departure.  But May’s decision means that Europe’s three most powerful nations, France, Germany, and Britain will be convulsed by internal election campaigns as time ticks away on the two year deadline to complete Brexit negotiations.

For more information:

http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/18/europe/uk-snap-election-theresa-may/index.html

US military defends dropping the ‘Mother of all bombs’ in Afghanistan

On Friday, the US military defended its decision to drop its most powerful non-nuclear bomb on ISIS positions in Afghanistan, describing it as a “tactical” move. The GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb, or MOAB, was dropped Thursday night on a network of fortified underground tunnels that ISIS had been using to stage attacks on government forces. The strike in Nangarhar province near the Pakistan border killed 36 ISIS fighters, Afghan officials said. The US military previously estimated ISIS had 600 to 800 active fighters in the area but was unclear whether it had hoped to strike again. The blast destroyed three underground tunnels as well as weapons and ammunition, but no civilians were hurt, Afghan and US officials said.

For more information:

http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/14/asia/afghanistan-isis-moab-bomb/index.html

Major electricity crisis strikes Gaza

The only power plant in Gaza ran out of fuel, leaving 2 million residents of the coastal enclave with only four hours of electricity a day in what the UN cautions could be the tipping point to making the country “unlivable.” The Palestinian in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza blame each other for the energy shortage.  The power generating authority in Gaza says it cannot afford to buy more fuel for the plant, mostly because of taxes imposed by the Palestinian Authority. The Palestinian Authority claims that the Hamas officials in Gaza are simply incapable of running the plant efficiently. The supply was exhausted on Sunday, forcing Gazans to prepare for a life with even less electricity than they already had, previously provided with 6-12 hours of power a day. The country will only have access to electricity imported from Israel and Egypt, which unfortunately, meets less than a third of demand.

For more information:

http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/17/middleeast/palestinians-gaza-power-plant-crisis/index.html

US airstrikes hit Syrian mosque

A report was released Tuesday by the Human Rights Watch saying a mosque was destroyed in US airstrikes. “The US seems to have gotten several things fundamentally wrong in this attack, and dozens of civilians paid the price,” said Ole Solvang, deputy emergencies director at Human Rights Watch. “The US authorities need to figure out what went wrong, start doing their homework before they launch attacks, and make sure it doesn’t happen again.” The US military said in March that an airstrike killed “several terrorists” at a meeting location of senior al Qaeda terrorists in Idlib. A US military official confirmed to CNN that American warplanes conducted airstrikes in the area. But the official also said the strikes hit a building 40 to 50 feet away from the mosque and also said satellite imagery showed the mosque still standing. However, the Human Rights Watch report said the US military misidentified the location of the attack and that it was southwest of al-Jinah, not Idlib.

For more information:

http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/18/middleeast/human-rights-watch-report-syria-mosque-bombing/index.html

The world’s oldest person dies

Emma Morana, the world’s oldest person and the last one known to be born in the 1800s, has died. She was 117. The Italian was born on November 29, 1899. She held the Guinness World Record titles for the oldest living person and oldest living woman. “She joined our celebrated hall of fame with her amazing achievement when she was announced in 2016 as the oldest living and was officially confirmed as the last person to be born in the 1800s,” Guinness World Records said in a statement on its website. It also said it will announce a new oldest person after reviewing evidence. Morona credited her longevity to ending an abusive marriage, and a diet of raw eggs and cookies. “I didn’t want to be dominated by anyone,” she told the New York Times of her 1938 separation from her husband. And despite her age, the woman had a childlike love of cookies and routinely hid them under her pillow so no one would eat them.

For more information:

http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/16/europe/emma-morano-oldest-person-dies-trnd/index.html