Envoy's wife lost immunity, reports say
LONDON -- British media are reporting that the wife of an American official who left the U.K. after being involved in a fatal road accident no longer has diplomatic immunity.
BBC and Sky News said Sunday that U.K. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab had told the family of Harry Dunn that "immunity is no longer pertinent" because the suspect has left the U.K.
The foreign office declined to comment.
Dunn, 19, was killed in August when his motorcycle collided with a car outside a British air force base in southern England used by the U.S. military. The woman who police say was driving the car, Anne Sacoolas, is married to a U.S. official. She subsequently left Britain.
Sacoolas' lawyer, Amy Jeffress of Arnold & Porter, said: "Anne is devastated by this tragic accident" and wants to meet Dunn's parents.
Saudi-Iran tensions draw Pakistani visit
TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran's president warned Sunday it would be "a big mistake" to think his country won't respond to threats after a mysterious attack on one of its oil tankers. Hassan Rouhani's remarks came as Pakistan's prime minister was visiting Iran in an effort to ease tensions between Tehran and Saudi Arabia.
Imran Khan is planning to visit Saudi Arabia later this week. His mediation efforts come just days after Iran said missiles struck an Iranian oil tanker traveling through the Red Sea near Saudi Arabia, which has denied it was behind the incident.
"If a country thinks that it can create instability in the region without getting a response, that would be a sheer mistake," Rouhani said, without pinning the blame on any specific country.
Tensions in the region have been high for months after President Donald Trump's decision to impose crushing sanctions that target Iran's crude oil sales and have crippled its economy. Those sanctions came after Trump unilaterally withdrew the U.S. from Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers last year.
The tensions culminated in a Sept. 14 attack on key Saudi oil infrastructure that halved the kingdom's oil production.
The U.S. blames Iran for the attack, something Tehran denies. Yemen's Houthi rebels, whom the kingdom has been fighting in a yearslong war, claimed the attack, though analysts say the missiles used wouldn't have the range to reach the target from Yemen.
Saudi Arabia meanwhile denied it was behind Friday's incident involving the Iranian oil tanker, with Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir telling journalists: "Let's wait and find out what happened before we jump to conclusions." The attack on the tanker has yet to be corroborated.
Kosovars sick after opening ballot boxes
PRISTINA, Kosovo -- More than 20 Central Election Commission officials have been taken to the hospital with health problems after opening five ballot boxes from Serbia, authorities in Kosovo said Sunday.
Twenty-six officials had allergic reactions and skin problems after opening the ballot boxes, local media Kosovapress reported. Emergency center doctors said all had itching and reddened skin.
Naser Ramadani, head of the Public Health National Institute, said nine women, including two pregnant ones, were treated for itching and nausea, adding that they were in stable condition.
A police spokesman confirmed the incident but declined to give details, saying they are investigating. The election commission spokesman declined to comment.
Kosovo held snap elections a week ago that were won by a left-wing party. More than 300 ballot boxes are being recounted, and Sunday's incident occurred at an office verifying the boxes being recounted in downtown Pristina.
Germans protest after synagogue attack
BERLIN -- Thousands of people in Berlin protested against anti-Semitism on Sunday, days after a man attacked a synagogue in the eastern German city of Halle.
About 10,000 people participated in the march through the German capital. Several thousand others protested Saturday in other cities including Hamburg and Marburg.
Many Germans are in shock over Wednesday's attack in which two people were killed outside the synagogue and in a kebab shop. The attack has renewed concerns about rising far-right extremism and questions about the slow police response.
The 27-year-old, heavily armed suspect identified as Stephan B. tried but failed to enter the house of worship on Yom Kippur, Judaism's holiest day. The suspect, who livestreamed his attack online, has been charged with two counts of murder and nine of attempted murder.
On Sunday, people started their march at a symbolic landmark, Berlin's Bebelplatz square, where the Nazis burnt thousands of books by Jews, Communists and other opponents, weeks after Adolf Hitler took power in 1933.
The marchers carried Israeli flags and banners with slogans like "No Nazis" or "Far-right terror threatens our society."
-- Compiled by Democrat-Gazette staff from wire reports
A Section on 10/14/2019