News in brief
By The Associated Press
Pope suggests Israel’s actions are disproportionate, immoral
ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE | Pope Francis is suggesting that Israel has used an “immoral” and disproportionate response in its attacks in Gaza and Lebanon. He says its military domination is going beyond the rules of war.
Francis was asked en route home from Belgium on Sunday about Israel’s targeted killing of one of Hezbollah’s founding members, Hassan Nasrallah. The Israeli airstrike also killed six other people and leveled several apartment buildings in a southern Beirut neighborhood.
Francis didn’t mention Israel by name and said he was speaking of countries in general. But he said that “the defense must always be proportionate to the attack.”
Norway mulling building fence on border with Russia
HELSINKI | Norway may put a fence along part or all of the 123-mile border it shares with Russia, a minister said, a move inspired by a similar project in its Nordic neighbor Finland.
“A border fence is very interesting, not only because it can act as a deterrent but also because it contains sensors and technology that allow you to detect if people are moving close to the border,” Justice Minister Emilie Enger Mehl said in an interview with the Norwegian public broadcaster NRK published late Saturday.
She said the Norwegian government is currently looking at “several measures” to beef up security on the border with Russia in the Arctic north, such as fencing, increasing the number of border staff or stepping up monitoring.
Stuck astronauts welcome SpaceX capsule
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. | The two astronauts stuck at the International Space Station since June are welcoming their new ride home. A SpaceX capsule docked at the orbiting complex on Sunday, a day after blasting off from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
The capsule arrived with two astronauts, half the normal number, and two empty seats for Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. But it won’t depart until February, pushing the stay at the space station to eight months for Wilmore and Williams.
NASA switched the test pilots to SpaceX after safety concerns about their Boeing Starliner. The Starliner returned empty earlier this month.
—From AP reports
