Job center for refugees opens in Jordan
AZRAQ REFUGEE CAMP, Jordan -- A job center opened Sunday in Jordan's second largest camp for Syrian refugees, the latest sign of a European Union-backed policy shift meant to improve the lives of the displaced people in regional host countries and discourage them from migrating onward.
Dozens of refugees crowded around long tables in a community center in the Azraq camp to register with potential employers for jobs in factories and on farms.
"Any work is OK for me," said Sumaya Mohammed Jidaa, a 39-year-old widow and mother of six inquiring about a sewing job. "Just give us money to take care of our children."
Under the so-called Jordan Compact, a deal struck with donor countries in 2016, the kingdom promised to provide 200,000 work permits for Syrians over three years, in exchange for several billion dollars in development assistance and reduced tariff barriers on Jordanian exports to Europe.
Implementation has been slow because of Jordan's economic downturn, high unemployment and the slow pace of regulatory change. About 90,000 Syrians have obtained work permits so far, and only two factories are exporting goods to Europe under the new rules, officials said.
Israelis retaliate with Gaza airstrikes
JERUSALEM -- The Israeli military said it struck 18 targets in Gaza overnight, in response to an explosive device that wounded four soldiers along the border with the territory, as Gaza officials said the bodies of two Palestinian teenagers who were killed trying to infiltrate Israel were recovered Sunday.
The military said its airstrikes were part of its expanded response to the attack, in which two soldiers were seriously wounded.
The military said the targets included weapon-manufacturing sites and training infrastructures of Hamas, the Islamic militant group that rules Gaza. Israel holds it responsible for all attacks emanating from Gaza, regardless of who carries them out. There were no reports of casualties in Gaza from the attacks.
Also Sunday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said it recovered the bodies of two 17-year-olds who were shot dead near the border area in the southern Gaza Strip. The shooting happened on Saturday.
Slain U.K. legislator's spouse apologizes
LONDON -- The widower of a slain British lawmaker stepped down from two charities set up in his late wife's memory after a newspaper reported allegations of past sexual misconduct against him.
Brendan Cox said late Saturday that he had acted inappropriately and would leave his positions at the Jo Cox Foundation and the More in Common charity. Both were started after a far-right extremist fatally shot and stabbed legislator Jo Cox just before the 2016 referendum on Britain's exit from the European Union.
Brendan Cox said he wanted to apologize "deeply and unreservedly" for his past behavior while working at another charity.
The allegations against Cox surfaced last week in Britain's Mail on Sunday. He called the newspaper's reports a "massive exaggeration" but admitted making mistakes.
Dynamite killed 12 people, Bolivia says
LA PAZ, Bolivia -- Bolivian authorities said Sunday that both of the explosions that killed 12 people during recent Carnival celebrations were caused by dynamite, not exploding gas canisters as initially thought.
Interior Minister Carlos Romero said officials are still trying to determine who planted the explosives in the southern city of Oruro, and why.
He said both the Feb. 10 and Tuesday explosions were caused by 6.5 pounds of dynamite.
The first, he said, was planted near the gas canister on the cart of a street food vendor, who was killed along with four members of her family and three other people.
The second explosion occurred only a few yards away three days later, killing four people.
Together, the explosions injured about 60 people.
Romero said that police also have found a small piece of dynamite in a hotel bathroom in the city, which is about 120 miles south of the capital, La Paz. It's a mining area where dynamite is widely available.
A Section on 02/19/2018