Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

In brief: Kerry seeks proof of life for man long missing in Iran

From Wire Reports

WASHINGTON – Secretary of State John F. Kerry said Sunday that the United States is looking for “proof of life” for a former FBI agent who went missing in Iran seven years ago during a visit that, according to several news organizations, was overseen by officials at the CIA.

The Obama administration hasn’t given up trying to secure the release of Robert Levinson, Kerry said on ABC’s “This Week.”

“To suggest that we’ve abandoned him, or anybody has abandoned him, is simply incorrect and not helpful,” Kerry said. “The fact is that I have personally raised the issue not only at the highest level that I have been involved with but also through other intermediaries.”

But Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, interviewed on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” said Iran’s government does not know where Levinson is.

“We know that he is not incarcerated in Iran,” Zarif said. “If he is, he is not incarcerated by the government. And I believe the government runs, pretty much, good control of the country.”

Attack on police leaves 16 dead

BEIJING – Chinese state media said 16 people were killed when assailants attacked police in the restive western region of Xinjiang.

The region’s official news portal Tianshan Net reported today that knife-wielding assailants hurled explosive devices at police in Shufu county of Kashgar prefecture.

Tianshan Net said two police officers died in the attack while 14 attackers were shot and killed. Another two assailants were arrested.

Xinjiang has long been home to a simmering rebellion against Chinese rule among parts of the Muslim Uighur population.

‘Grand coalition’ to lead Germany

BERLIN – Germany’s new government will feature the country’s first female defense minister and the return of a respected former foreign minister, while Chancellor Angela Merkel’s influential finance chief will stay on as she starts her third term.

Merkel’s new “grand coalition” government of right and left is to take office Tuesday – nearly three months after her conservatives won elections but fell short of a parliamentary majority and saw their previous pro-business coalition partners lose their seats.

Ursula von der Leyen will become defense chief, Merkel said Sunday. The 55-year-old mother of seven inherits the job of modernizing the military, which is being overhauled after Germany abandoned conscription in 2011, and overseeing its deployment in Afghanistan as combat troops depart.