BERMUDA
Island prepares for storm
People in Bermuda were being urged Friday to stock up on emergency supplies and prepare for rough weather as Tropical Storm Karl was on track to pass to the east of the Atlantic Ocean island. Karl was expected to bring tropical storm-force winds with hurricane-force gusts, squalls, dangerous surf and possibly tornadoes as the center of the storm passes within 60 miles of the island early Saturday, according to the Bermuda Weather Service. Conditions had started to deteriorate on Friday, with heavy surf pounding the shore.
UNITED NATIONS
Iraq takes aim at sex assault
The United Nations and Iraq signed an agreement Friday aimed at helping the Baghdad government tackle sexual violence in conflict, an issue that made headlines following the capture and rape of Yazidi women by Islamic State extremists in 2014. Zainab Hawa Bangura, the U.N. special envoy for sexual violence in conflict, and Iraq’s Foreign Minister Ibrahim Al-Jaffari, signed the joint communique on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly meeting. Bangura’s office said the support envisioned under the agreement will include documenting and collecting evidence of alleged sex crimes, strengthening Iraq’s legal framework to better address sexual violence and putting in place procedures for compensating victims.
COLOMBIA
Rebels approve peace accord
Leaders of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia pledged their unanimous support on Friday to a peace agreement reached last month with the government. The announcement capped off a week of deliberations on a remote savannah in southern Colombia in which the guerrillas attempted to present themselves in a new light to skeptical Colombians who blame them for decades of bloody violence.
VATICAN CITY
Rules on miracles tightened
The Vatican issued new rules Friday for the process to determine if healings qualify as miracles for sainthood, including safeguards against possible financial abuses. The rules deal with how a panel of medical experts scrutinizes potential miracles. Pope Francis has expressed determination to ensure the sainthood process, which attracts donations by faithful for canonization candidates, is rigorous and avoids scandals. Among the new regulations, one stipulates a potential miracle can no longer be presented for consideration if it fails to pass before the board of medical experts three times.
Compiled from wire reports