Briefly

Jerusalem

U.S. advocate’s parents want death investigated

Parents of an American advocate killed earlier this year in Gaza by an Israeli army bulldozer called Monday for an independent U.S. investigation of her death.

Rachel Corrie, 23, from Olympia, Wash., was crushed to death March 16 while trying to block a huge army bulldozer destroying a row of Palestinian homes in a refugee camp near the Gaza-Egypt border.

The Israeli military conducted an internal investigation and said the bulldozer driver could not see Corrie because of the size of the bulldozer and its limited view due to heavy armor plating. Peace activists have disputed that.

At a news conference in Jerusalem, Corrie’s parents said they were not satisfied with the Israeli explanation.

Nearly 50 members of the 435-seat U.S. House of Representatives have signed a bill calling for an independent investigation, Cindy Corrie, Rachel’s mother, said.

Prince Edward Island

Hurricane Juan hits Canada’s eastern coast

The downgraded remnants of Hurricane Juan knocked out power and sank boats at a yacht club Monday while blowing across Prince Edward Island before heading out to sea and quickly losing steam.

Hurricane Juan lashed Nova Scotia with 86 mph winds Sunday, ripping off roofs, uprooting trees, knocking out power and killing at least three people before weakening to a tropical depression and heading north to Prince Edward Island.

Two fishermen from Caraquet, New Brunswick, disappeared when a boat carrying a load of wood sank off Quebec’s Anticosti Island. The boat’s captain reached shore safely, but there was no sign of the others.

More than 100,000 people in Nova Scotia, on Canada’s Atlantic coast, were without power Monday. At least three people died when trees fell and struck their vehicles.

Colombia

Rebel group claims blame for kidnapping

The second-largest rebel group in Colombia said Monday it was detaining seven foreign backpackers kidnapped this month from an archaeological site in the mountains. It was the first claim of responsibility for the abduction.

The National Liberation Army, known as the ELN, did not make any demands in its statement, but said it was open to negotiations “to find a solution.”

The group, which along with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, has been battling the Colombian government for four decades, also condemned the military operation under way to hunt for the kidnapped tourists.

The group of eight backpackers — four Israelis, two Britons, a German and a Spaniard — was abducted by gunmen on Sept. 12. One has since escaped.

Tokyo

Court awards millions to poison gas victims

A Japanese court awarded $1.7 million in damages Monday to a group of Chinese for injuries or deaths of relatives caused by chemical shells and other weapons abandoned in China by the Japanese army after World War II.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs called the verdict historic. The decision came months after another Japanese court rejected a similar claim by a different group of Chinese — the first legal ruling on a legacy of the war that remains a sore spot between Japan and China.

A top Japanese government spokesman, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Masaaki Yamazaki, called the decision “very severe.” Japanese officials said they would study the decision, delivered by the Tokyo District Court, before deciding whether to appeal.

“We were finally given justice,” said Li Chen, one of 13 plaintiffs who were awarded a total of $1.7 million.