Iraq's Spate of Sectarian Violence Continues
 iStockPhoto/Thinkstock(BAGHDAD) -- Deadly attacks driven by sectarian tensions slowed somewhat in Iraq on Tuesday, although officials there say that bombings still took the lives of 20 people while injuring at least 100 others.The death toll during six days of renewed sectarian violence is now close to 270 with nearly 100 fatalities reported on Monday, half of them in Baghdad's Shiite neighborhoods.Most of Tuesday's attacks occurred north of the capital as militants used car bombs and explosive-laden vests to strike at Iraqi civilians and security forces.Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has blamed Sunni lawmakers and tribesmen for stirring up the latest tensions, while Sunnis maintain that it's al-Maliki's fault for marginalizing them.In another sign of the deteriorating situation, the Iraqi parliament postponed an emergency session on Tuesday to address the violence when the prime minister's supporters refused to attend the meeting.
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UN-Arab League Envoy Has Hopes for Syrian Peace Summit
 ASHRAF SHAZLY/AFP/Getty Images(CAIRO) -- The United Nations-Arab League mediator in charge of trying to find a solution to the two-year conflict in Syria expressed optimism on Tuesday that officials from President Bashar al-Assad's government and representatives of the opposition will attend a peace summit being brokered by Washington and Moscow.Speaking in Cairo, Lakhdar Brahimi told reporters, "The Syrian people are building great hopes on the conference, as the opposition prepares itself to take part and likewise the Syrian regime prepares to take part in this conference."Brahimi's hopes hinge on whether Damascus actually sends officials to the summit scheduled for early June. Recently, al-Assad expressed little enthusiasm for the talks, saying there are too many groups fighting in Syria to gain a consensus as well as a ceasefire.However, at least one member of the opposition said on Tuesday he'd be open to discussions with al-Assad's government.Moaz al-Khtaib, the former president of the Syrian National Coalition, maintained that rebel fighters would opt for a political situation to the crisis if Damascus' intentions are genuine.He added, "All the opposition forces want is a solution for the Syrian people. Rebels have nothing to lose. They are determined to stay to the end. But we are facing unprecedented suffering."The death toll from the two-year conflict ranges from 80,000 to 120,000 fatalities.
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Group Condemns Prosecution of Afghan Women for 'Moral Crimes'
 Kaveh Kazemi/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- Human Rights Watch on Tuesday decried the latest surge of "moral crimes" in Afghanistan, in which women and girls are actually punished for offenses perpetrated against them by men.The watchdog group pointed to the latest figures by Afghanistan’s Interior Ministry that found 600 females imprisoned for "moral crimes" as of May 2013 -- a jump of 200 incarcerations since October 2011.Brad Adams, Asia director of Human Rights Watch, said in a statement that 12 years after the Taliban was driven from power, "women are still imprisoned for being victims of forced marriage, domestic violence and rape. The Afghan government needs to get tough on abusers of women, and stop blaming women who are crime victims."In virtually all cases of girls and half involving women, the "moral crimes" constituted running away from home in order to flee from forced marriages or abusive relationships.Sex outside of marriage is also grounds for imprisonment of females, punishable by up to 15 years in jail. Even a woman who is raped or forced into prostitution can be found guilty by Afghan courts on the charge of sex outside of marriage.Women and girls accused of "moral crimes" can also be subject to "virginity tests" to determine if they engaged in recent sexual intercourse.Among other things, Human Rights Watch is calling on President Hamid Karzai to declare that running away is not a crime, which would overturn the judgment of the Afghan Supreme Court that has deemed it should be prosecuted as such.
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Iran Rejects Ahmadinejad's Possible Successor
 ABC/Donna Svennevik(TEHRAN, Iran) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s pick to succeed him won't be doing that.Iran's Guardian Council decided on Tuesday that Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, a close presidential aide whose daughter happens to be married to Ahmadinejad's son, is not eligible to run in the June 14 presidential election.The electoral watchdog also decided that former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani could not get on the ballot of eight candidates that includes Saeed Jalili, the country's chief nuclear negotiator.The decision to exclude Mashaei, although a slap in the face to Ahmadinejad, was anticipated since he has long been at odds with Iran's ruling theocracy.Conservatives who support the ayatollah claim that Mashaei is unacceptable because he puts Iran ahead of Islam.In the past, Mashaei angered the clergy by suggesting that Iran could forge close ties with Israel, as well as for applauding women who danced in a ceremony in Turkey. Women in Iran aren't permitted to dance in public.All of those on the ballot are establishment candidates, more in tune with the thinking of the hard-line clerics, who oppose any association with the West.
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In Apparent Anti-Gay Protest, Man Commits Suicide in Notre Dame
 iStockphoto/Thinkstock(PARIS) -- The Notre Dame cathedral in Paris was evacuated and closed for four hours on Tuesday after a man shot himself dead near the altar. Dominique Venner, a 78-year-old French historian, entered the cathedral Tuesday and placed a sealed letter on the altar before shooting himself in front of hundreds of tourists, according to the U.K.'s Independent. Venner apparently killed himself in protest against France's recent decision to allow same-sex civil unions.According to the newspaper, authorities immediately cleared the building, one of France's most popular tourist locations now in its 850th anniversary year, and closed it to the public for about four hours.
Though efforts were made by cathedral security to revive Venner, a former member of the nationalist terrorist movement OAS, he later died of the self-inflicted gunshot wound.The Independent reports Venner posted an essay online earlier Tuesday laying out his views on gay marriage. He called for "new, spectacular and symbolic actions to shake us out of our sleep, to jolt anesthetised minds and to reawaken memory of our origins."In addition to ranting against gay marriage, Venner wrote in the essay that the "population of France" and Europe was going to be "replaced" and brought under "Islamist control," The Independent reports.Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
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New Evidence of Iran Support to Assad, While Congress Moves to Arm Rebels
 WOLFGANG KUMM/AFP/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- The United States has new evidence that Iran and Hezbollah have direct involvement with the Syrian regime, a senior State Department official told reporters traveling with Secretary of State John Kerry in Oman.The official said that, according to the Free Syrian Army, Hezbollah and Iranian fighters have been helping the Syrian regime of President Bashar Assad in Qusayr, near the opposition stronghold city of Homs.“It is the most visible effort we have seen of Hezbollah to engage directly in the fighting in Syria as a foreign force. We understand there are also Iranians up there,” the official said. “This is an important thing to note — the direct implication of foreigners fighting on Syrian soil now for the regime.”The official said there are concerns that if the Syrian forces capture Qusayr they will slaughter the civilian population there, which numbers in the thousands. The opposition warns it could be a repeat of the massacres seen in Banias earlier this month, which is roughly 30 minutes away.However, the official could not verify exactly what the Iranians and Hezbollah are doing — whether they are fighting alongside the regime or just advising the soldiers.
"I don’t think they’re arming because I’ve not heard that, but I think they could be doing a little of both advising and fighting,” the official said. “We know that Iran and Hezbollah cooperate in a number of countries, not just in Syria. And so it is not a surprise that Iran would be there with Hezbollah on the ground. We do have consistent reports of Hezbollah fighters on the ground.”Meanwhile in Washington, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved the bipartisan Syria Transition Support Act, which approves lethal aid and training to vetted Syrian rebels, sanctions weapons and oil sales to the Assad regime, and provides further humanitarian assistance for planning for a post-Assad Syria. All but three senators on the committee are voting for the bill, which will now go to the full Senate for a vote.The legislation allows for the U.S. to provide rebels with arms and military training only after they have gone through a vetting process by the U.S. government and are found to meet human rights, terrorism and non-proliferation criteria. The bill also creates a $250 million transition fund for the next two years to help Syria’s political opposition transition to governing the country, including supporting new institutions and supporting government institutions that currently exist.While most of the committee members strongly supported the bill sponsored by chairman Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., and ranking member Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., of the three senators who opposed, Rand Paul, R-Ky., was the most vocal, calling the Syria conflict “murky” and warning that America was getting involved in a situation “where it’s impossible to know who are friends are.”Paul cited the current problem with insider attacks in Afghanistan as an example of how, when not careful, the United States leaves itself vulnerable to attack by the very people it is trying to help.“Syria is 100 times messier than Afghanistan,” Paul said, and warned that the measure could be “a slippery slope to war.”Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., also expressed skepticism of the act, saying that he doesn’t think the United States knows whom they are really arming.But Senators Marco Rubio, R-Fla.; John McCain, R-Ariz.; Corker, and Menendez passionately argued that if the United States doesn’t do anything now, the only people with weapons will be the Assad regime and the extremist elements of the opposition.“Extremists groups with links to al Qaeda are exploiting the conflict and gaining ground in a state with large chemical weapon stockpiles,” Menendez said. ” The time to act and turn the tide against Assad is now.”Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
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US Lawmakers Traveling to Russia to Investigate Boston Bombing
 FBI(MOSCOW) -- A delegation of American lawmakers will travel to Russia next week in part to investigate last month’s Boston Marathon bombings, ABC News has learned.The group, led by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., wants to find out why a 2011 Russian request that the United States investigate Tamerlan Tsarnaev, one of the suspected Boston bombers, did not raise more red flags.The Russians offered a vague warning that Tsarnaev planned to link up with extremist groups abroad, but an FBI investigation yielded no evidence to support those claims at the time. The lawmakers also want to know why subsequent U.S. requests for additional information about Tsarnaev went unanswered by the Russians.“If there was a distrust, or lack of cooperation because of that distrust, between the Russian intelligence and the FBI, then that needs to be fixed and we will be talking about that,” Rohrabacher, the chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs’ Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia and Emerging Threats, told ABC News by telephone.“Our goal is to use Boston as an example, if indeed there was something more, that should’ve been done that wasn’t because of a bad attitude,” Rohrabacher added.Rohrabacher said he hoped to use the trip to repair lingering mistrust between the former Cold War rivals. With that in mind, the lawmakers will also visit the Russian space center at Star City, outside Moscow, to discuss increasing cooperation between the Russian and U.S. space programs.“There’s no reason for us to be in the Cold War attitude anymore,” Rohrabacher, a former speechwriter for President Reagan, said.The lawmakers plan to meet political and security officials, including counterterrorism officials, during their week-long visit to Russia. They are also considering a trip to Dagestan, the restive region in Russia’s North Caucasus, where Tsarnaev spent six months last year and where investigators are digging into contacts he may have had with extremists and militants.The other members of the congressional delegation include Reps. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn; Steve King, R-Iowa; Paul Cook, R-Calif.; Steve Cohen, D-Tenn.; and William Keating, D-Mass., who is the ranking member on the Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia and Emerging Threats.Several weeks ago Keating sent a member of his staff to Russia to investigate whether Tsarnaev had met with any extremists or militants in Dagestan. The staff member could confirm, from nongovernmental sources, reports from ABC News and elsewhere that Tsarnaev had been in touch with at least two such individuals, Mahmoud Mansour Nidal and William Plotnikov, during his time there.According to the staff member, it was Plotnikov who first mentioned Tsarnaev’s name to Russian investigators during an interrogation. That may have been the reason Tsarnaev first came under scrutiny. Both Nidal and Plotnikov were killed in police raids last year.Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
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Hotel Offers 24-Carat Gold iPads
 KARIM SAHIB/AFP/GettyImages(DUBAI) -- A hotel that bills itself as the world’s most luxurious is giving guests the ultimate in over-the-top amenities: a 24-carat gold iPad at check in.Dubai’s Burj Al Arab hotel claims to be the first in the world to offer the iPads to guests. No, the iPad is not yours to keep.Burj Al Arab teamed up with London-based Gold & Co. to offer the iPads.
“The Gold & Co. London 24-carat gold iPad is the ultimate in luxury accessories, hence we wanted it to be paired with Burj Al Arab, the world’s most luxurious hotel. The symmetry is obvious, as both the gold iPad and the hotel are unique in terms of extraordinary quality and design,” said Amjad Ali, CEO of Gold & Co. London.Retail value of the iPad: about $10,000, according to The Telegraph.The hotel, which charges at least $1,400 per night -- the lowest nightly rate available over a June weekend on the hotel’s web site -- said guests will be able to use the iPad as a “virtual concierge” and access information about the hotel such as restaurant descriptions, spa services, butler and housekeeping services and more.Travel enthusiasts might know the Burj Al Arab as the sail-shaped building that’s the only seven star hotel in the world. However, that rating is disputed in travel circles, as there is no organization that gives out seven-star awards. In fact, the hotel makes no such claim on its web site’s homepage, though it does call itself the “world’s most luxurious.” It offers private butler service; four pools; a private beach; Rolls Royce, BMW and helicopter airport transfer service; and free access to a water park.Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
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Syria Fires at Israeli Vehicle, Raising Fears
 Sasha Mordovets/Getty Images(TEL AVIV) -- The Syrian military said on Tuesday that it fired on an Israeli army jeep in the contested Golan Heights in the early hours of the morning, destroying it.Israel said the jeep was slightly damaged and there were no casualties, but the incident raised fears that the long-time enemies could soon once again find themselves embroiled in renewed conflict.Just after 1 a.m., the Israeli vehicle on patrol was fired upon by Syrian forces, both sides reported. Syria said the jeep had crossed the ceasefire line in the mountainous Golan Heights that divides the two countries and was heading to the village of Beer Ajam, on the ceasefire line. Israel said the jeep hadn’t crossed, but was near Tal Fares, in the Golan Heights area that Israel captured in the 1967 six-day war.Israel responded quickly to the Syrian fire with precision Tammuz rockets and “reported a direct hit,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement. “Our policy is clear: we do not intervene in what goes on in Syria, or in its civil war,” said Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon on Israel army radio. “We do not and will not allow any Syrian fire to enter our territory. Last night a Syrian army target was destroyed as a result of such fire.”Israel and Syria are technically in a state of war, but the border has remained relatively quiet during the four decades of rule by President Bashar al-Assad and his father, Hafez, before him.Tuesday’s incident was the latest in a string of cross-border fire coming from Syria that Israel has largely dismissed as an unintentional spillover from the war raging next door between Syrian forces and the rebels. But for the first time in Syria’s two-year civil war, Syria claimed responsibility for the attack on Israel.“Whoever thinks that he is able to test our strength, alert and readiness to maintain our dignity and sovereignty is mistaken,” the Syrian army’s statement read. The incident comes just days after what Israel said were two mortars from Syria that landed on Mount Hermon in the northernmost part of the occupied Golan Heights. It was then partially closed to the Israeli public and a group calling itself the “Free Palestine Movement” claimed responsibility for the attack.Fears that that the war in Syria will spill over and drag in neighboring countries are at their highest point in the 26 months since the uprising in Syria started. Tension between Syria and Israel is particularly high following three Israeli air strikes on Syrian targets in January and May. Israel has sought to tamp down the tension by not confirming or denying the strikes, believed to have been on a research center near Damascus and on shipments of Iranian missiles bound for the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.In response, both Assad and Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, warned that a new “resistance front” would be opened in the Golan Heights. “We announce that we stand with the Syrian popular resistance and offer material and spiritual support as well as coordination in order to liberate the Syrian Golan,” said Nasrallah.Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
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Did Pope Francis Perform Exorcism on Teen?
 Dan Kitwood/Getty Images(ROME) -- Claims that Pope Francis performed an exorcism on a disabled teenager in St. Peter's Square after mass on Sunday have led to denials from the Vatican.The Catholic TV2000 filmed the pope blessing children with disabilities, showing the pope covering one teen's head with his hands and pushing back.The TV network interviewed exorcists who said it was an exorcism, or "liberation prayer" from evil. The Vatican instead said it was simply a prayer for someone suffering.
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Nearly 100 Deaths in Multiple Iraq Bombings
 Iraqi Prime Minister office via Getty Images(BAGHDAD) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is accusing some lawmakers of fueling the latest sectarian unrest that's responsible for close to 250 deaths in his country over a five-day period.The Shiite leader also blamed large Sunni demonstrations for counteracting his attempts at achieving national unity almost a year-and-a-half after U.S. forces pulled out of Iraq.Sunnis and Kurds contend its al-Maliki who's stoking sectarian tensions by marginalizing minorities.Either way, violence has picked up during the past two months, with reports Monday of at least 95 deaths in predominantly Shiite areas of the country. Two days earlier, insurgents struck largely Sunni regions, killing dozens.Monday's attacks included explosions reported in 10 separate sections of Baghdad where Shiites congregate in marketplaces and other busy spots. As many as 50 people were killed in the Baghdad attacks, which also left at least 150 others wounded.Al Qaeda-linked groups in Iraq are believed to be the main culprits, but Sunni and Shiite militants are also suspected of instilling violence.While al-Maliki has called for calm, some Sunni tribesman, particularly in Anbar province where many of the protests are taking place, are promising to keep fighting back against security forces sent by the Shiite-led government.
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Hezbollah Heavily Involved in Key Syrian Battle
 Scott Peterson/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- The battle for the Western Syrian city of Qusayr is being described by both sides as the possible turning point of the two-year civil war.What makes this conflict different from other cities where fighting continues to rage is that it also involves the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which is allied with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in his bid to crush opposition groups seeking his ouster.Even as the Syrian government has been hitting rebel strongholds hard with air strikes in Qusayr, Hezbollah is sustaining heavy losses.One Syrian watchdog group reports that nearly 30 Hezbollah guerrillas have died so far in the battle for Qusayr, not far from Lebanon's eastern border.There are conflicting reports about who is gaining ground in the city located in Homs province although there's wide acknowledgement Syrian government forces regained control of more than half of Qusayr since the fight began last Sunday.Taking back Qusayr in its entirety is seen as crucial for al-Assad as it would give him better footing in western Syria although rebel forces still seem to be holding the upper hand in northern and eastern territories.
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Oscar Pistorius Will Not Compete As He Awaits Trial
 Herman Verwey/City Press/Gallo Images/Getty Images(PRETORIA, South Africa) -- Oscar Pistorius's agent says the international athlete known as "Blade Runner," who is accused of murdering his girlfriend, will not compete again this year as he fights to clear his name. The 26-year-old Olympic sprinter is currently awaiting trial after being charged with the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in February. Pistorius maintains he shot Steenkamp, 29, by accident, mistaking her for an intruder on Valentine's Day. He is due back in court on June 4 with a trial scheduled to take place before the end of this year.In a statement Monday, Peet van Zyl, confirmed Pistorius will not be seen on an athletics track before then.“There was never any pressure from me or his coach to return to competition. It is his decision and it is his decision not to compete,” van Zyl said. Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
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Report: Terror Attack Thwarted in Russia
 Creatas/Thinkstock(MOSCOW) -- Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) claims to have cornered a group of suspected militants in the town of Orekhovo-Zuyevo, east of Moscow, thwarting a possible terror attack, according to Russian news reports. The group opened fire, and two suspects were killed in the shootout. A third person was detained. The reports don’t say when the operation took place.The FSB claims the suspects were planning a terror attack in Moscow, but reports thus far don’t provide any details of their plans. The three are reportedly from Russia and received training in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
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Anti-Taliban Politician, Civilians Killed in Suicide Attack
 iStockphoto/Thinkstock(BAGHLAN, Afghanistan) -- At least 14 people, including a senior political official, were killed Monday by a suicide attacker in the northern Afghanistan province of Baghlan.The attacker entered the provincial council compound on foot wearing a police uniform before detonating a suicide vest at the gate of the council's headquarters, BBC News reports. According to the spokesperson of the governor of Baghlan province, the attack claimed the lives of 14 people, including council head Haji Rasool Khan Mohseni, a key Taliban opponent in the province. Nine others were injured in the attack.Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
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President Obama Schedules Trip to Africa
 Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- President Obama will travel to Africa this summer.The president will take his family to U.S. allies Senegal, Tanzania, and South Africa, where Nelson Mandela lives in retirement.During the trip, scheduled for June 26 through July 3, the president, "will reinforce the importance that the United States places on our deep and growing ties with countries in sub-Saharan Africa, including through expanding economic growth, investment, and trade, strengthening democratic institutions, and investing in the next generation of African leaders," White House press secretary Jay Carney said in a statement Monday.As the first African American president, President Obama has wanted to make an extended tour of the African continent, but he cannot go to his father's homeland, Kenya, for the lack of political stability there.Carney said the president, "will meet with a wide array of leaders from government, business, and civil society, including youth, to discuss our strategic partnerships on bilateral and global issues."“The trip will underscore the President’s commitment to broadening and deepening cooperation between the United States and the people of sub-Saharan Africa to advance regional and global peace and prosperity,” he said.Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
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Pervez Musharraf Gets Bail in Benazir Bhutto Murder Case
 Riccardo S. Savi/WireImage(ISLAMABAD) -- Pervez Musharraf is one step closer to freedom, but he's not out of the woods yet.A judge granted bail on Monday to the former Pakistani president and military strongman. Musharraf stands accused of being involved in the December 2007 assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.Bail was granted when the man who made the accusation refused to testify.
Despite the bail, Musharraf remains under house arrest while two other cases against him make their way through Pakistan's complicated legal system.
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Continued Violence in Iraq Reaching Critical Point
 iStockPhoto/Thinkstock(BAGHDAD) -- Is Iraq destined for another civil war?The most recent spike in sectarian-related violence leading to more 140 deaths in just four days has many worried that Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is losing control even as security patrols were ordered increased around the country.Last Friday, at least 70 people died in targeted Sunni neighborhoods, with dozens killed in a bombing near a mosque north of Baghdad.The capital itself is turning into an armed camp with more SWAT teams, army patrols, police officers and mobile checkpoints than in recent memory.What precipitated the new tension was a government attack on a Sunni protest encampment about a month ago that led to Sunni tribesmen taking up arms to fight back against what they believe is continued oppression by the Shiite regime.Last month, 700 people died in Iraq, the highest casualty figure in nearly five years. During the first three weeks of May, there have been more than 300 killed by violence.
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South Korea Warns North to Stop Missile Launches
 Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images(SEOUL, South Korea) -- North Korea fired a short-range missile into the Sea of Japan on Sunday, 24 hours after it had launched three other similar rockets in the same area, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency.Calling the North's action "deplorable" and "provocative," Seoul warned that it had placed "dozen of [Israeli-made] Spike missiles and their launchers" on its border islands, adding, "They can destroy [North Korea's] underground facilities and can pursue and strike moving targets."United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also remarked, "We are very concerned about North Korea's provocative actions." He called on Pyongyang to return to talks on suspending its nuclear program although the regime of leader Kim Jong-un has made no move in that direction.In April, there were fears that North Korea was ready to conduct another mid-range launch but it's likely China intervened in the matter upon U.S. urging.
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Syrian President Won't Go Along with International Peace Summit
 Sasha Mordovets/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad appears resistant to any attempts by the international community to set up a peace summit that would work towards ending the two-year conflict in his country.In an interview with the Argentinean newspaper Clarin, the embattled leader threw cold water on a joint U.S.-Russia effort to set up a conference in early June that would get officials from his administration and the main Syrian opposition to arrive at a ceasefire and compromise.Once more, al-Assad blamed the West for supporting who he terms as "terrorists" trying to usurp his authority, saying, "We do not believe that many Western countries really want a solution in Syria."According to the Syrian president, there are "hundreds" of different groups operating in Syria at the moment, making it virtually impossible to unify them. As a result, there's no chance of a ceasefire working even if his government went along with the idea.Al-Assad also rejected the widely held belief that his forces are being assisted by fighters from Iran and the Hezbollah in Lebanon, claiming, "We do not have fighters from outside Syria."As for what happens for him next, the president said defiantly, "I am not someone who flees from my responsibilities," saying he would run for office again when Syria holds elections in 2014.
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Major Setback for Women's Rights in Afghanistan
 Kaveh Kazemi/Getty Images(KABUL, Afghanistan) -- The move to strengthen women's rights in Afghanistan took a major hit Saturday when conservative religious lawmakers blocked landmark legislation.Khalil Ahmad Shaheedzada, a conservative member of parliament, said the measure was withdrawn when religious parties claimed it violated Islamic principles and encouraged disobedience.Shaheedzada even went as far to say, "Whatever is against Islamic law, we don't even need to speak about it."Had the legislation been considered and passed, it would have set a minimum age for girls to get married while ending prosecution of women who are raped.Its advocates had hoped the bill would become law to prevent the next president of Afghanistan from rolling it back. Now, that's a moot point.Women are fearful that once the U.S. and their coalition allies leave Afghanistan, the country will return to the culture of the previous Taliban regime, when women were forbidden to work or attend school.Last March during a tour of Afghanistan, Secretary of State John Kerry met with various women's groups to try and ease their concerns about a return to a time when Afghan women were treated as second-class citizens.However, the U.S. has little say about what laws can or can't be passed by the Afghan parliament.
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British Police Have New Leads in Case of Missing Girl
 iStockphoto/Thinkstock(LONDON) -- Police in Great Britain said they have identified new leads in the case of Madeleine McCann, the British girl who went missing in Portugal six years ago at the age of three.Several persons of interest, as well as "both investigative and forensic opportunities" in the case, have been identified by Scotland Yard, authorities said.Metropolitan Police said they were working with Portuguese police to determine the next steps, even though the missing girl's case is closed in the country."Our investigative review is ongoing and we are encouraged by the progress we are making," Metropolitan Police said in a statement, according to the BBC. "We are reviewing a significant number of documents and continue to identify potential lines of inquiry."McCann was 3 years old when she vanished on vacation with her parents Kate and Gerry McCann and twin siblings in the Algarve region of Portugal. The girl's parents say they found Madeleine missing after having left the children in the home unsupervised while having dinner less than 500 feet away.The review into the McCann case was opened last year after Prime Minister David Cameron responded to a plea from the girl's parents.Kate and Gerry McCann have maintained a website and a 24-hour tipline to keep their daughter's case in the public eye.On May 3, 2013, six years after Madeleine went missing, Kate McCann posted on the "Find Madeleine" website that the family was there "for the long haul.""We still worry about her, we miss her as much as we ever did," McCann wrote. "We remain as determined as ever to find her and to know what has happened."
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North Korea Launches Three Short-Range Guided Missiles
 Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images(SEOUL, South Korea) -- The South Korean Defense Ministry says that North Korea fired three short-range guided missiles into waters off its east coast on Saturday, raising concerns about the potential for more military provocation in the region.Two KN-02 missiles were fired in the morning, followed by another in the afternoon, spokesman Min-seok Kim said.Unlike the mid-range Musudan missiles which are believed to be capable of traveling more than 1,800 miles, within reach of Japan and South Korea, the missiles launched Saturday only have a range of 75 miles.Kyodo News, citing an unnamed Japanese official, said the missiles never reached Japanese waters.North Korea routinely tests short-range missiles, but the launches Saturday came amid signs that diplomacy may finally be cooling tempers on the Korean Peninsula after weeks of warlike threats from Pyongyang.This past week, Glyn Davies, the State Department's senior envoy on North Korea, traveled to Beijing, South Korea, and Japan, to discuss all aspects of the North Korea issue. That trip was preceded by a surprise visit to Pyongyang by one of Japan's most experienced diplomats on North Korea, Isao Iijima.During his four day trip, Iijima, an adviser to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, met with senior officials, including North Korea's No. 2 leader Kim Yong Nam.Abe has largely remained mum about the secret visit, aimed at restarting talks to bring home Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and 80s, a key hurdle in normalizing bilateral ties.Tensions on the Korean peninsula escalated to its worst in decades earlier this year, after North Korea conducted its third nuclear test in February.Angered by UN sanctions, and joint US-South Korean military drills, Pyongyang threatened nuclear strikes on Seoul and Washington, and unilaterally pulled out of the 60-year-old war armistice that ended the Korean War.In April, North Korea suspended operations at the jointly run Kaesong Industrial Complex, pulling out 53,000 workers.US officials said North Korea withdrew two of their Musudan missiles earlier this month, but Pyongyang renewed threats of a nuclear war last week, following the arrival of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz.The ship was brought in to the southern port city of Busan for joint US-South Korea naval drills.North Korea's state TV called the move an "extremely reckless" provocation, saying "The risk of a nuclear war in the peninsula has risen further due to the madcap nuclear war practice by the US and the South's enemy force."Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
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