World In Brief

Orthodox cleric quits over Pussy support

RUSSIA: A small-town cleric who was defrocked for his support of the Pussy Riot group said today that they had exposed “the ills and blisters of society.”
Deacon Sergei Baranov from Tambov became the first Russian Orthodox cleric to walk out in protest over the church’s treatment of the Pussy Riot case.

Deacon Baranov said that he supported the group and does not regret his resignation.

GDP expected to shrink by 25%

GREECE: The economy will have contracted by 25 per cent by the time the recession ends, finance minister Yannis Stournaras warned today.

“The cumulative reduction of GDP since 2008 is just under 20 per cent and is expected to reach 25 per cent by 2014,” he said.

Unpaid government bills and other debts to the private sector have reached €6.5 billion (£5.2bn).

Filipino hospital staff win huge payout

US: Dozens of Filipino hospital workers in California will share nearly $1 million (£615,000) in settlement of a lawsuit over being unfairly targeted by bosses.

Nearly 70 staff members accused Delano Regional Medical Centre of banning them speaking Tagalog while letting other workers use their native languages.

Nurses said they were told surveillance cameras would be used to monitor them.

Police grab 180 Occupy activists

US: Occupy Wall Street protesters celebrating their movement’s anniversary on Monday only suffered a couple of dozen arrests during the celebration.

But more than 180 of them had been arrested at the end of the evening by police following them around New York after the protest ended.

Gunmen shoot dead former prison boss

NIGERIA: Boko Haram gunmen shot and killed a retired former prison boss and a state attorney general on Monday night.

Former controller general Ibrahim Jarma was killed after leaving evening prayers at a mosque in Azare. One of Jarma’s guards was killed in the attack.

And suspected Boko Haram members shot and killed the state attorney general in a separate attack.

State dept seeks to block ruling

US: The Justice Department asked a federal appeals court today to block a ruling that an anti-terrorism law authorising indefinite detention of those supporting terrorist groups was unconstitutional.

Government lawyers claimed that the judge had a “deeply flawed” understanding of the military’s detention authority and her “order threatens irreparable harm to national security.”

UN peacekeeping in Liberia cut by half

UNITED NATIONS: The security council decided on Monday to cut the UN peacekeeping force in Liberia by more than half over the next three years.

The council approved a reduction in the size of the UN mission from seven battalions to three by July 2015.

About 3,750 military personnel will remain, down from about 8,500.

Pro-Hamas group wins control of union

GAZA: A pro-Hamas bloc has won control of a union representing Palestinians in a UN agency.

The bloc won 25 out of 27 union seats in a vote among 10,000 staffers with the UN Relief and Works Agency.

The UN has tried to curb Hamas power over the union in the past. A UN spokesman declined to comment.