At least 7 quakes hit Oklahoma in 1 day

At least 7 quakes hit Oklahoma in 1 day

OKLAHOMA CITY

At least seven earthquakes rattled north-central Oklahoma on Monday, including one felt 300 miles away in Iowa, prompting concern from local residents and policymakers that the state isn’t doing enough to curb the quakes that scientists have linked to oil and gas activity.

Oklahoma has become one of the most earthquake-prone areas in the world, with the number of quakes magnitude 3.0 skyrocketing from a few dozen in 2012 to more than 720 so far this year. Many of the earthquakes are occurring in swarms in areas where injection wells pump salty wastewater – a byproduct of oil and gas production – deep into the earth.

2 Israeli teens guilty of killing Palestinian

JERUSALEM

A Jerusalem court on Monday convicted two Israeli teens in the grisly killing of a 16-year-old Palestinian boy whose slaying was part of a chain of events that led to last year’s Gaza war.

The court delayed the verdict for the third and chief suspect in the case due to a last-minute insanity plea, sparking claims that Israel is too lenient with Jewish assailants.

The court found the two Israeli minors guilty of killing Mohammed Abu Khdeir, who was kidnapped, beaten unconscious and then burned alive in July 2014. Their names were not released under Israeli law. The sentencing of the two is expected in mid-January.

The delay of the verdict for suspected ringleader Yosef Haim Ben David, 31, infuriated many Palestinians.

SA red kettle gets $500,000 check

MINNEAPOLIS

The Salvation Army has wasted little time cashing this donation-bucket check.

Salvation Army officials in Minnesota and North Dakota say a couple dropped a $500,000 check into a red kettle Saturday outside a Cub Foods in suburban Minneapolis.

Spokeswoman Annette Bauer says it’s the biggest check ever in the Minneapolis area and likely the biggest ever in the two states.

Bauer says the couple has a history of donations and prefers to remain anonymous. She said they alerted Salvation Army officials that the check was coming and asked them to open the kettle and remove the check before volunteers who count donations could see their names.

Pope calls for peace in visit to mosque

BANGUI, Central African Republic

Pope Francis made a historic visit to the last remaining Muslim neighborhood in Central African Republic’s capital Monday, a move that almost immediately opened up a part of the divided city troubled for months by retaliatory violence between Muslim and Christian militias.

Moments after he left, hundreds of Muslims who essentially had been barricaded inside by armed Christians burst into what had been a no-man’s land only a day earlier. Some jubilant residents even followed the pope into the city center shouting, “The war is over!” – a hopeful sign for potential reunification.

17 die in prison brawl

ESCUINTLA, Guatemala

Seventeen prisoners were killed in a gang brawl inside an overcrowded Guatemalan prison, including seven who were decapitated, officials said Monday.

Victor Mijangos, assistant prosecutor for the Escuintla district, said the fight broke out Sunday afternoon in the Canada Rehabilitation Farm about 45 miles south of the capital.

Prison-system spokesman Rudy Esquivel said the prison was designed to hold 600 inmates, but houses 3,092.

Associated Press