UN condemns Boko Haram attacks

UN condemns Boko Haram attacks

UNITED NATIONS

The U.N. Security Council condemned the recent escalation of attacks by the Nigerian extremist group Boko Haram on Monday and expressed deep concern that its activities are undermining peace and stability in central and west Africa.

The presidential statement approved by all 15 members was the council’s first formal reaction to Boko Haram’s activities, which have increased in ferocity and frequency.

Pope adds Africa, S. America to plans

In addition to a three-city tour in the United States this year, Pope Francis will visit South America and Africa, it was reported Monday.

The pontiff outlined his 2015 travel plans during an in-flight news conference on his way back to Rome from the Philippines.

The pope said he will visit Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay as well as the Central African Republic and Uganda. Details on the trip still were pending.

In the United States, Pope Francis is planning on visiting New York, Washington and Philadelphia.

Oxfam: 1% approach 50% of global wealth

LONDON

The richest 1 percent of the population will own more than half the world’s wealth by 2016, Oxfam International said in a report released as the World Economic Forum begins in Davos, Switzerland.

Oxfam said the world’s richest people saw their share of global wealth jump to 48 percent last year from 44 percent in 2009. Rising inequality is holding back the fight against global poverty as the world’s biggest companies lobby the U.S. and European Union for beneficial tax changes at a time when average taxpayers still are paying the bill for the financial crisis, Oxfam said.

Mideast drama at beauty pageant

JERUSALEM

Explosive confrontations are nothing new for Israel and Lebanon, but the latest spat between the longtime foes is perhaps the first to have been caused by a purported photo-bomb.

A seemingly innocuous selfie at the Miss Universe pageant in Miami has sparked criticism in Lebanon because it featured a smiling Miss Lebanon alongside Miss Israel. The Israeli beauty queen, Doron Matalon, posted a picture of herself with colleagues from Japan, Slovenia and Lebanon on her Instagram account. The result? A formal Lebanese investigation into the scandal.

NYC settles lawsuit over ’13 chokehold

NEW YORK

The city of New York has agreed to pay a Brooklyn man $75,000 to settle a lawsuit claiming he was choked and unable to breathe during a 2013 encounter with police.

A federal judge approved the settlement last week.

US officials heading to Cuba for talks

WASHINGTON

American officials head to Havana this week with fairly modest goals of cooperation with the Cuban government, seeking an end to restrictions on the U.S. Interests Section there so that an embassy — and symbol of the two countries’ new relationship — eventually can be established.

The migration and normalization talks between the United States and Cuba are the biggest face-to-face meetings since Presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro announced their intentions last month to re-establish diplomatic ties. Leading the U.S. delegation is Roberta Jacobson, the top U.S. diplomat for Latin America, the most senior American official to visit Cuba in more than three decades.

Combined dispatches