Spain

Former officer convicted of drowning prisoners

A Spanish court convicted a former Argentine naval officer of crimes against humanity Tuesday and sentenced him to 640 years in prison for throwing 30 naked, drugged prisoners from planes during his country’s “dirty war” more than two decades ago.

Argentines who lost loved ones in the campaign against dissent — some wore clothes bearing stickers with photos of victims — hugged each other and cried with relief after the landmark ruling was read out against 58-year-old Adolfo Scilingo.

The verdict closes Spain’s first trial under a law that says crimes against humanity can be tried in the country even if they are alleged to have been committed elsewhere — part of a growing body of international legislation that also has been applied for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia.

Paris

Tragic tryst thought to cause deadly fire

A night watchman’s girlfriend who placed candles on the floor to set the scene for a romantic tryst but then left in a rage over his drunken state may have accidentally caused last week’s hotel fire that killed 24 people, prosecutors said Tuesday.

The woman, who was detained Monday, told police she placed a dozen burning candles on the floor of the breakfast room of the Paris Opera hotel, then threw piles of clothes on the floor and left after she became angry that her boyfriend was drunk.

The prosecutors’ office announced it was opening an investigation for “fire caused involuntarily, manslaughter and involuntary injuries.” The woman, identified only as 31-year-old Fatima, was placed under investigation Tuesday evening, judicial officials said.

Geneva

WHO still looking for deadly flu strains

South Korea has joined Mexico and Lebanon as countries that have yet to destroy all samples of the killer influenza virus they received as part of routine test kits, the U.N. health agency said Tuesday.

But all three countries have made progress in tracing the missing shipments from the United States, said Klaus Stohr, influenza chief of the World Health Organization.

Because of fears of a global pandemic should the virus be released, WHO has been urging destruction of the 50-year-old H2N2 virus included in kits sent to 61 laboratories in 18 countries outside the United States.

“We believe that within the next hours, perhaps days, the matter will be resolved,” Stohr told reporters.

U.S. laboratories, which received the vast majority of the 3,747 kits sent out in October and February, have destroyed more than 98 percent of them, Stohr said.

Moscow

Rice says Russia has signs of democracy

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Tuesday that Russia was far from the totalitarian state it once was, citing individual freedoms such as a right to protest and the existence of opposition groups ready to challenge the Kremlin.

While acknowledging Russia’s setbacks in developing a democracy, Rice’s tone as she briefed reporters contrasted with the combative mood two months ago, when President Bush admonished President Vladimir Putin to embrace freedom.

Speaking to reporters while en route here, Rice described the Russian internal situation as complex, with obvious signs of increasing centralized control coexisting with democratic trappings that were absent during communist rule.

She noted that Russians are still free to air their grievances.

Russians, she said, “certainly have had their share of protests concerning pension reform. I think it would be a mistake to somehow think of this as somehow reverting back to Soviet times.”

Iran

Report: Nation bans Al-Jazeera reporters

Iran suspended the nationwide operations of Arab TV broadcaster Al-Jazeera on Monday, accusing it of inflaming violent protests by the Arab minority in its southwest, state-run TV reported.

Also, the government said two more protesters died in the unrest in Khuzistan province along the border with Iraq, raising the three-day toll to three dead and at least eight injured.

Demonstrations erupted Friday and Saturday in the oil-rich city of Ahvaz after rumors spread of an alleged government plan to move non-Arabs into the city.

Al-Jazeera, which is popular among Iran’s Arab-speaking minority, is believed to have been the first news outlet to broadcast news of the unrest.

Tehran on Monday ordered the station to cease operations until the network explained the motives behind its coverage, which Tehran believes inflamed the violence.