Colombia
Rebels release hostage
Colombia’s second-largest rebel group took another step in the direction of peace talks with the government by freeing a politician Thursday after holding him more than three months. Fabio Ardila, a former mayor in eastern Colombia, was handed over to the International Red Cross by the National Liberation Army in the same area near the Venezuelan border where the rebels released a rice farmer a week ago. President Juan Manuel Santos praised the release, saying it brings the two sides closer to initiating peace talks that were announced in March but have been frozen over the government’s insistence that the group release all captives.
Brazil
New dinosaur discovered
Brazilian scientists on Wednesday announced the discovery of what they say is the largest dinosaur ever found in South America’s biggest country. Diogenes Campos, director of Rio de Janeiro’s Earth Sciences Museum, said he named the 27-yard-long dinosaur “Austroposeidon magnificus.” It belonged to the Titanosaur group of herbivores that had large bodies, long necks and tails and relatively small skulls, he said. He said it was about 20 to 26 feet tall and lived in what is now Brazil 70 million years ago.
Germany
Merkel’s popularity improves
A new poll published Thursday suggests that German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s popularity is recovering after hitting a 5-year low last month. The ARD television survey of 1,003 people found that 54 percent of respondents were satisfied with Merkel’s work, up from 45 percent a month earlier. Merkel’s poll numbers have been volatile in recent months, apparently reflecting events surrounding Europe’s refugee crisis.
France
‘Altercation’ injures lawmaker
Feuding in Britain’s fractious, right-wing U.K. Independence Party erupted into violence Thursday that left a member of the European Parliament hospitalized with a head injury after an “altercation” with a colleague. Steven Woolfe — the front-runner to be UKIP’s next leader — suffered seizures and lost consciousness after clashing with another lawmaker Thursday during a meeting of party lawmakers in Strasbourg, France.
Compiled from wire reports
