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Armenia's Yezidi begin to question dated customs

Agence France-PresseJune 20, 2013 01:01
As she hangs up washing on branches outside her family's stone home, Liana talks wistfully about her curtailed childhood which ended with marriage at the tender age of 14. Liana belongs to Armenia's roughly 40,000-strong Yezidi community, a livestock-herding people who follow their own ancient religion that involves the worship of a peacock angel called Satan. Their customs are strict and sometimes at odds with the values and practices of the modern world, most notably the tradition of marrying women while they are still in their early teens.

Lauren Oliver's YA novel 'Panic' snagged by Universal in bidding war (Exclusive)

June 19, 2013 22:35
By Jeff Sneider LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Universal Pictures landed the film rights to "Panic," the next young adult novel from Lauren Oliver ("Delirium"), in a bidding war. The seven-figure deal closed on Monday night, according to an individual familiar with the negotiations. HarperCollins imprint Harper Teen will publish the book in spring 2014.

Body pulled from Lake Michigan is Chicago university student

June 19, 2013 19:31
By Mary Wisniewski CHICAGO (Reuters) - Authorities have identified a body pulled from Lake Michigan on Wednesday morning as a University of Chicago student who disappeared a week ago, possibly to watch a thunderstorm. Austin Hudson-Lapore, 20, apparently left his apartment last Wednesday night, according to family spokesman Andrew Holmes. A representative for the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office said that the body pulled from the lake was Hudson-Lapore. An autopsy has been scheduled for Thursday morning.

Abbas says Palestinians support US peace moves

Agence France-PresseJune 19, 2013 18:32
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Wednesday reiterated his support for US Secretary of State John Kerry's efforts to revive peace talks with Israel. During a meeting with EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton in Ramallah, Abbas talked of the Palestinians' "commitment to the success of Kerry's efforts to save the peace process in order to restart serious talks leading to the end of the occupation and the establishment of a an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital".

Accounts and accountability: UK committee says bankers must take more responsibility

The Canadian PressJune 19, 2013 05:32
LONDON - British bankers could soon be facing harsher penalties for behaving badly. After a year which has seen major scandals involving rate-rigging, money-laundering and rogue-trading rock the UK's financial industry, an influential parliamentary committee recommended Wednesday that senior bankers should be held more accountable for their bank's actions. One measure, it said, should be a new criminal offence of "reckless misconduct" — one that could carry a prison sentence.

EU committee greenlights lifting of Le Pen's immunity

Agence France-PresseJune 19, 2013 15:01
The European Parliament's judicial committee on Wednesday gave its green light to the possible lifting of the immunity of far-right French MEP Marine Le Pen ahead of a vote in July. In a closed-door hearing the committee agreed to a report proposing the lifting by 11 votes in favour, one against and four abstentions, opening the way to a vote in plenary session in the French city of Strasbourg on July 2.

Quebec to become home to only Holy door outside Europe

Agence France-PresseJune 19, 2013 14:32
The first Holy door outside of Europe will soon grace one of the oldest Catholic parishes in North America, in the Canadian province of Quebec, a church official told AFP on Wednesday. The door is to be installed at Notre-Dame de Quebec cathedral in Quebec City's old quarter to mark the parish's 350th anniversary, and will be one of only seven in existence. Six others can be found in papal basilicas in Rome, as well as in Ars in France and Santiago de la Compostela in Spain.

Iraqi Shi'ites flock to Assad's side as sectarian split widens

June 19, 2013 13:01
By Suadad al-Salhy BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Among the Iranian pilgrims, foreign executives and tourists in the departure lounge at Baghdad airport, a group of young Iraqis prepare to wage religious war in Syria - not for the rebels trying to topple President Bashar al-Assad but against them. Dressed in jeans, their hair cropped short, the 12 men awaiting their flight are Iraqi Shi'ites, among hundreds heading for what they see as a struggle to defend fellow Syrian Shi'ites and their holy sites from the mainly Sunni Muslim rebels.

'Reckless' bankers risk prison in Brtitain

Agence France-PresseJune 19, 2013 07:30
Bankers found guilty of "reckless misconduct" in Britain could end up in prison and be stripped of bonuses, under draconian proposals on Wednesday to clean up London's scandal-hit financial sector. The Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards, established by the government after the Libor rate-rigging scandal last year, made the recommendations in a final report that amounted to a blunt indictment of malpractice. The scandals have besmirched the old and worldwide reputation of the City of London and made some bankers the target of public anger.

'Reckless' bankers risk prison in Britain

Agence France-PresseJune 19, 2013 07:30
Bankers found guilty of "reckless misconduct" in Britain could end up in prison and be stripped of bonuses, under draconian proposals on Wednesday to clean up London's scandal-hit financial sector. The Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards, established by the government after the Libor rate-rigging scandal last year, made the recommendations in a final report that amounted to a blunt indictment of malpractice. The scandals have besmirched the old and worldwide reputation of the City of London and made some bankers the target of public anger.
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