Tokyo: Strong quake shakes northern Japan

An earthquake jolted northern Japan early today, rattling buildings for several seconds. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

The magnitude-6.2 tremor was centered about 31 miles under the seabed off the coast of the northern Miyagi prefecture, the Meteorological Agency said.

The tremor was felt most strongly in Monou, a town located about 217 miles northeast of Tokyo, the agency said.

Noriko Miura, a cashier at a 7-Eleven convenience store in Monou, said buildings in the area swayed for more than 10 seconds and small items fell from shelves, but there appeared to be no structural damage.

There were no reports of injuries or damage to buildings or roads, said Kazuyoshi Saito, a police spokesman in the nearby city of Kessennuma.

Mexico City: Generals found guilty on drug charges

A military court on Friday convicted two generals of aiding drug smugglers, concluding one of the most high-profile cases in recent Mexican history.

A five-general panel found Gen. Francisco Quiros and Brig. Gen. Arturo Acosta guilty of protecting the operations of notorious drug lord Amado Carrillo Fuentes, who died in 1997 after undergoing plastic surgery.

It sentenced Quiros to 16 years in prison and Acosta to 15.

Prosecutors accused the generals of protecting drug smugglers and using military airplanes to transport shipments of cocaine and marijuana.

The officers also face separate charges in the deaths of 130 leftist activists and revolutionaries in the 1970s.

Jerusalem: Suicide attackers condemned for actions

Palestinians who launch suicide attacks against Israeli civilians are guilty of “crimes against humanity,” and Yasser Arafat has not done enough to deter them, an international human rights group said Friday.

Human Rights Watch called for the prosecution of those responsible and said no Israeli military action or violations of international law justified such attacks.

“The people who carry out suicide bombings are not martyrs; they’re war criminals, and so are the people who help to plan such attacks,” Kenneth Roth, executive director of the New York-based group, said in a statement.

On Friday, Arafat was critical of the 170-page report, saying the Israeli military occupation of Palestinian areas was the root cause of the violence.