Sri Lanka

Grenade set off at concert, killing two

A grenade exploded at a concert of Indian movie stars and entertainers in Sri Lanka’s capital Saturday, killing at least two people and injuring 15, officials said.

The grenade was thrown at the crowd as the three-hour show was nearing its end, military spokesman Brig. Daya Ratnayake said. A man identified as a journalist for a local newspaper and a woman were killed, he said.

Audience members first mistook the explosion as part of a fireworks show accompanying the concert until they saw people bleeding, a doctor at Colombo’s national hospital told the Press Trust of India.

Rome

Ally of premier gets nine years for Mafia ties

A close political ally of Premier Silvio Berlusconi was convicted of ties with the Sicilian Mafia on Saturday and sentenced to nine years in prison in a fresh embarrassment to Italy’s conservative government.

Sen. Marcello Dell’Utri was found guilty a day after Italy’s billionaire premier was himself cleared of long-standing corruption charges in a separate trial.

Dell’Utri, a longtime executive in Berlusconi’s business empire, was an architect of the media magnate’s political rise in the 1990s and is considered one of his confidantes. During his seven-year trial in Palermo, prosecutors accused him of acting as a link between the mob and the Milan business world.

Iran

Report: Iran, EU will resume nuclear talks

Iran and the European Union will begin comprehensive talks on Tehran’s nuclear activities next week, official media reported Saturday.

Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, Hassan Rowhani, will meet foreign ministers of Britain, France, Germany and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana in a joint session. The timing of that meeting was not clear.

“I think there would be a good chance to achieve progress in the talks if we manage to come up with the necessary guarantees,” senior Iranian negotiator Siours Nasseri told state radio.

Last month, Iran reached an agreement with the three European nations to suspend its nuclear enrichment.