Palestinian applauds U.N. resolution draft
UNITED NATIONS -- A key U.N. committee approved a draft resolution Friday calling on the International Court of Justice to urgently issue its opinion on the legal consequences of denying the Palestinian people the right to self-determination as a result of Israel's actions since the 1967 Mideast war.
The measure was opposed by Israel, which argued it would destroy any chance of reconciliation with the Palestinians.
The vote in the General Assembly's Special Political and Decolonization Committee was 98-17, with 52 abstentions. The resolution will now go to the 193-member assembly for a final vote before year's end.
The draft cites Israel's violation of Palestinian rights to self-determination "from its prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967 ... and from its adoption of related discriminatory legislation and measures."
The call for a new opinion was one of six Palestinian-related resolutions approved by the committee on Friday.
After the vote, the Palestinian U.N. ambassador, Riyad Mansour, expressed gratitude to member states that approved all six resolutions and cited Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' speech at the annual General Assembly in September that urged for the mobilizing of "all the components of our international law-based order, including international justice."
"Our people are entitled to freedom," he said. "There will come a day a day when our people will bring the flag of Palestine over the churches of Jerusalem and to the mosques of Jerusalem and Haram al-Sharif."
Officer's killer on watch list, Belgians say
BRUSSELS -- Belgian authorities said Friday the lone assailant who killed one police officer and wounded another in a stabbing attack had been on a counterterrorism list of potential extremists.
"The man was on the list of ... the [Coordination Unit for Threat Analysis]," said federal prosecution magistrate Eric Van Der Sypt.
On Friday, he faced charges of "murder and attempted murder within a terrorist context," Van der Sypt said.
Brussels prosecutor spokeswoman Sarah Durant said the suspect made "unhinged remarks" hours before the attack Thursday. Since he voluntarily asked for psychological help, he was sent to a hospital, which he left soon after.
After the stabbings, the suspect was shot and wounded by another officer who rushed to the scene. Authorities said the suspect was still hospitalized Friday and unable to be interrogated.
The suspect was identified as Yassine M., born in Brussels in 1990. The Belgian suspect had served six years in prison between 2013-19 for common-law crimes.
Belgian authorities kept the overall terrorist threat level at "medium."
'The Scream' targeted in glue attack
COPENHAGEN, Denmark -- Norwegian police said two climate activists tried Friday to glue themselves to Edvard Munch's 1893 "The Scream" at an Oslo museum and no harm was reported to the painting.
Police said they were alerted by the National Museum of Norway and had three people under their "control." A third person filmed the pair that tried to affix to the painting, Norwegian news agency NTB said.
The museum said the room where the glass-protected painting is exhibited will reopen as soon as possible. Police said there was glue residue on the glass mount.
Activists from the organization Norwegian for Stop Oil Exploration were behind the stunt, saying they "wanted to pressure lawmakers into stopping oil exploration."
Saudis release U.S. mom, her daughter
WASHINGTON -- Saudi Arabia has released an American woman it took into custody this week after she tweeted and otherwise spoke out about her efforts to leave the country with her young Saudi-American daughter, according to a U.S. official and a U.S.-based advocacy group Thursday.
Carly Morris was released early Wednesday after being summoned and taken into custody Monday by Saudi authorities in Buraidah, according to the Freedom Initiative. The Washington-based group advocates for prisoners it deems wrongfully detained in the Middle East.
Morris, who the group says was shackled in front of her 8-year-old daughter, was questioned while in custody about her tweets and contacts with news organizations and rights groups over her three-year effort to leave the kingdom with her child, Freedom Initiative said.
State Department spokesman Ned Price confirmed the American's release. He said U.S. diplomats remain closely involved in the case.
The Saudi Embassy in Washington and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Morris traveled to Saudi Arabia in 2019 for a short stay to allow her daughter to meet the family of the Saudi father, said Bethany Al-Haidari, Freedom Initiative's Saudi Arabia case manager.
Morris has faced Saudi Arabia's strict laws on male guardianship in her efforts to leave with her daughter again.