American professor held in Jerusalem
JERUSALEM — An American law professor was detained by Israeli police and accused of trying to block Israeli troops in a West Bank village scheduled for demolition, his Israeli lawyer said Saturday.
Frank Romano, 66, is being held at a lockup in Jerusalem and is to appear before an Israeli military court Monday, said attorney Gaby Lasky. She said she is trying to get a hearing sooner, before a civil court.
Romano, who reportedly also has French citizenship, was detained Friday in the embattled village of Khan al-Ahmar, along with two Palestinian activists. Romano stood in front of heavy equipment being used to clear barriers that had been set up to slow demolition, witnesses said.
Israeli police said three people were detained for causing disturbances.
Romano was initially taken to a West Bank police station where he briefly met with activists from an Israeli-Palestinian group, Combatants for Peace. Nahoum Oltchik, a member of the group, said Romano told him he had started a hunger strike and would refrain from eating until Israel had halted plans to raze Khan al-Ahmar, a hamlet of 180 Palestinians.
U.S. weighs more lethal aid for Ukraine
KIEV, Ukraine — The United States special envoy for Ukraine said Saturday that Washington would consider providing more armaments to the country, whose army is fighting with Russia-backed separatist rebels in the east.
U.S. President Donald Trump this year reversed a decision by President Barack Obama’s administration not to provide lethal aid to Ukraine. The U.S. has since sent more than 200 Javelin anti-tank rockets.
Envoy Kurt Volker told reporters in Kiev that Ukraine has improved its defense capabilities in recent years, but “there are still some gaps in those capabilities. And wherever those gaps are, we are prepared to sit down and talk with Ukraine about what their needs are. They can buy things through our foreign military sales.”
Volker said the United States is concerned about the expansion of Russian naval operations in the Sea of Azov, which borders Ukraine, Russia and the Russia-annexed Crimean Peninsula.
The separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine have long threatened the Azov port of Mariupol; taking the city would be a key step toward their establishing a land corridor between Crimea and Russia.
Indian police search for rape suspects
NEW DELHI — Police on Saturday were hunting for three men accused of drugging, kidnapping and raping a teenager while she was on her way to a test-preparation course in northern India.
Police officer Ashwini Kumar said the 19-year-old victim was in stable condition in a hospital in Haryana state after the attack last week.
Violent crime against women has been on the rise in India despite tough laws that were enacted five years ago.
The Press Trust of India news agency cited the teenager’s father as saying she named three suspects who abducted her from a bus stop on Wednesday, but believed that eight to 10 people could have been in the village home where she was raped.
Indian media reports said the suspects were believed to be from the victim’s village and were known to her. After the attack, they dropped her off by car in Mahendragarh, a town about 90 miles southwest of New Delhi, India’s capital.
Opposition leader released in Rwanda
KIGALI, Rwanda — A prominent Rwandan opposition leader walked free on Saturday after the government approved the early release of more than 2,100 prisoners with little explanation.
Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza’s release surprised many because it is unusual for longtime President Paul Kagame to pardon potential challengers. She quickly urged Kagame to release all other political prisoners.
“The beginning of opening of the political space in Rwanda, I hope so,” she told reporters.
Ingabire, head of the United Democratic Forces of Rwanda-Inkingi opposition party, was arrested in 2010 and found guilty of conspiracy to undermine the government and denying Rwanda’s 1994 genocide, charges that she denied. She was sentenced to 15 years.
Human Rights Watch called the charges politically motivated and linked to her criticism of the government ahead of the 2010 presidential election.
A smiling Ingabire thanked the president for her release, saying it means the government has found it can work together with Rwandans of different political views.
When asked about her political future, she said she would announce her next steps in the coming days.
Rwanda’s government has long been accused by rights groups of suppressing the opposition and having a justice system that lacks independence, which it has denied.
“When prisoners are filing forms requesting a presidential pardon, prisoners charged with genocide denial and conspiracy against the government are not allowed to fill such forms,” a prison official said.