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Princess Caroline of Monaco is a Grandmother
Photo Credit: www.hellomagazine.com
Princess Caroline of Monaco is a first-time grandmother.
“The Princess of Hanover and Madame Vera Santo Domingo have the joy to announce the birth of their grandson, born on March 21, 2013,” the Monaco’s Pink Palace released in a statement.
The boy, who’s name has yet to be released, is the child of Caroline’s eldest Andrew Casiraghi, 28, and his fiancee, Tatiana Santo Domingo, 29. The couple intend to wed later this year.
Under Monaco’s constitution, Casirghi is second in line – directly after his mother, 56, – to succeed his uncle Prince Albert II, as ruling sovereign. Unless his uncle produces a suitable heir, Casiraghi’s infant son is third in line.
Cyprus Rejects Bank Levy, Putting Bailout in Doubt
Photo Credit: www.theworld.com
Lawmakers in Cyprus have rejected government plans to impose an unprecedented tax on bank deposits, which has thrown into doubt the 10 billion euro bailout agreed upon with the European Union on March 16.
Failures to secure the emergency loans from the EU would leave Cyprus facing a banking collapse.
The bailout, which is considered small in comparison to rescue packages for other troubled EU nations like Greece, represents more than half the size of the 18 billion euro Cyprus economy.
The proposed tax on deposits had sparked big protests outside parliament and messed with the financial markets on March 18.
Officials chose to make changes to the proposals to protect depositors who have less than 20,000 euors in their accounts, but plans to levy a tax of 6.75% on deposits of 20,000-100,000 and 9.9% on anything above 100,000 euro wasn’t approved by parliament.
Cyprus has become the fourth of 17 eurozone stars who have been granted a bailout by its EU partners and the IMF, after Greece, Ireland, and Portugal. Spain was given EU assistance to rescue its banks, but so far has avoided asking for a full sovereign bailout.
Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina Selected as Pope
Photo Credit: www.worldnews.nbc.com
A new pope has been elected!
Argentine Jorge Bergoglio has been elected the pope, making him the first ever from the Americas and the first from outside Europe in more than a millennium.
His chosen name will be Pope Francis.
The 76-year-old archbishop of Buenos Aires had reportedly been the runner up in the 2005 conclave which elected Benedict XVI, who retired last month, and which made him the first pope to resign in 600 years.
Bergoglio has spent most of his career in Argentina.
Former Soviet Soldier Missing Since 1980 Found Alive
Photo Credit: www.cnn.com
A former Soviet Army soldier, who has been missing since 1980, has been found alive.
Former Soviet soldier Bakhredtin Khakimov, was was an ethnic Uzbek, was found living in the Shindand district of Herat Province in western Afghanistan. He lives under the name of Sheikh Abdullah and works as a traditional healer.
Khakimov had gone missing in action in 1980 during the Soviet invasion of Aghanistan. He had been tracked down by a team from Warriors-Internationalists Affairs Committee, a nonprofit, Moscow-based organization that searches for the former Soviet Union’s MIAs in Afghanistan.
In a statement released by the organization, they revelead that, “He received a heavy wound to the head in the course of a battle in (Shandand) district in September 1980 when he was picked up by local residents. He now leads a seminomadic life with the people who sheltered him.”
The organization was able to make contact with the man two weeks ago, and while he has no identity papers, he was able to identify photos of other Soviets he served with. He hardly remembers any Russian, but is still fluent in Uzbek.
Khakmov also has visible effects from his wound, including a trembling hand and tic in his shoulder.
The former soldier, who married in Afghanistan, but is now a childless widower, is apparently keen to meet his relatives. The committee is currently working on arranging the meeting.
North Korea Ends Peace Pacts with South Korea
Photo Credit: www.rfa.org
North Korea has announced that they will be ending their nonaggression pacts with South Korea.
The country has been fueled by its anger over the U.N. vote on new sanctions, which were a response to North Korea’s recent nuclear test.
This announcement came just a day after the North threatened a “pre-emptive nuclear attack,” which is something analysts say they believe is unlikely.
This new development by the country and its young leader Kim Jong Un makes the situation on the Korean Peninsula more worrying and unpredictable.
South Korea has responded to the situation by warning that it will retaliate strongly and sternly if its citizens are threatened.
The United States has also responded, by agreeing to help the South with any threat that comes their way.
