El Salvador

Jail riot leaves at least 31 dead

Rival prisoners fought each other with knives and sticks Wednesday at a San Salvador jail, leaving at least 31 inmates dead and two dozen injured, officials said.

The riot began before dawn when a group of jailed gang members clashed with other prisoners, deputy police commissioner Pedro Gonzalez said. More than 3,000 prisoners were being held at the facility, which was designed to hold 800.

Prison director Rodolfo Garay said 30 prisoners died at the scene. One was later pronounced dead at a hospital.

Police finally regained control of the prison late Wednesday afternoon, after hours of chaos.

“Many of the injuries are serious,” said emergency official Daniel Chavez. “The last (person) we took out was already dying.”

Gonzalez said none of the prisoners had escaped.

London

Terror suspects appear in court

Eight men accused of plotting to commit murder and cause mayhem with radioactive materials, toxic gases, chemicals or explosives appeared in court Wednesday in a case linked to a U.S. terror alert this month.

The defendants included an alleged senior al-Qaida operative also charged with scouting prominent financial targets for terror attacks in the United States — including the New York Stock Exchange, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

Prosecution lawyer Sue Hemming said the eight suspects were motivated by “a strong and deeply held ideology” and were willing to carry out extreme acts. She said police have about a hundred computers and thousands of files to examine as part of what promises to be a long and complex investigation.

None of the eight entered a plea and all were ordered held in custody until a court appearance next week.

Sudan

U.N. food agency increases aid in Darfur

The United Nations’ food relief agency is gearing up for a “critical stage” in feeding refugees in western Sudan as more people flee ethnic violence there and the rainy season peaks, U.N. officials said Wednesday.

The number of internally displaced people in the Darfur region has reached 1.2 million, up from 1 million reported last month, said Radhia Achouri, spokeswoman for the U.N. Mission in Sudan. Another 270,000 people need humanitarian assistance, bringing the total number of people affected by the conflict to almost 1.5 million, Achouri said.

Another 180,000 people have fled Darfur into neighboring Chad, the world body said.

The United Nations says Darfur has become the scene of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

Peru

Explorers find new complex of ruins

An American-led expedition discovered five new districts in what its leader described as an ancient jungle metropolis on the slopes of the Peruvian Andes.

The complex, which covers more than 25 square miles, was used by the Chachapoyas — tall, fierce warriors who were defeated in the late 15th century by Inca ruler Tupac Yupanqui just decades before the Spanish conquest of Peru, expedition leader Sean Savoy, 31, told The Associated Press.

“It is the oldest Chachapoyan find that we know of to date,” said Savoy, who led a 21-day trip to the ruins of Gran Saposoa, located 335 miles north of Lima.

Thousands of Chachapoyas once lived in Gran Saposoa, marked by hundreds of circular stone buildings in at least six interconnected districts. The once-urban valley has scattered tombs built into its cliffs and is overlooked by three stone watchtowers up to 33 feet tall, Savoy said.