ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – A provincial leader who was one of the most prominent politicians jailed by President Pervez Musharraf was freed yesterday by the newly elected government, fulfilling one of its major promises to release political detainees.
The detainee, Sardar Akhtar Mengal, the leader of Baluchistan National Party and a former chief minister of Baluchistan province, in Pakistan's southwest, was released from Liaqut National Hospital in Karachi to his supporters' cheers.
New York Times News Service
Rancher's acquittal in
nun's death appealed
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – A prosecutor has appealed the acquittal of a rancher convicted last year of ordering the 2005 murder of U.S. nun and Amazon rain forest protector Dorothy Stang.
The appeal filed Thursday in Belem by prosecutor Edson Cardoso de Souza seeks to cancel Tuesday's acquittal and schedule a new trial for rancher Vitalmiro Bastos de Moura, who has been freed.
What has drawn suspicion is that de Moura's acquittal occurred after Amair da Cunha and gunman Rayfrant das Neves Sales changed their stories.
Da Cunha had confessed to receiving about $30,000 to set up the hit, while Sales admitted to using de Moura's gun to shoot Stang six times at close range while she was sitting in the forest reading her Bible.
Da Cunha said last week that de Moura hadn't hired him, and Sales, who hid on de Moura's property after shooting Stang, testified he had acted on his own volition.
MCT News Service
Russia parades its
military hardware
MOSCOW – Nuclear missile launchers and columns of tanks rolled through Red Square yesterday in a display of martial hardware not seen since the Soviet Union's waning days.
The parade, much smaller than similar commemorations in the Soviet period but laden with significance and mixed messages, marked the 63rd anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany, which is observed in Russia as Victory Day, a solemn state holiday.
New York Times News Service
Sri Lankan rebels
destroy cargo ship
BATTICALOA, Sri Lanka – Separatist rebels destroyed the navy cargo ship “Invisible” today just hours after a bombing blamed on the group killed 11 people in eastern Sri Lanka – violence that cast a cloud over provincial elections scheduled for later in the day.
The government hailed the elections as a key step in restoring normalcy to Eastern Province, which it freed from 13 years of Tamil Tiger rule in July.
Associated Press
Slain federal officers
mourned in Mexico
MEXICO CITY – President Felipe Calderón said yesterday that the killing of an acting federal police chief was an attempt by weakened gangs to counter his fight against drug trafficking. Calderón spoke at the memorial service of Edgar Millán Gómez and two other federal officers killed this week.
Associated Press
Train quarantined
in Canada; 1 dead
TORONTO – A train with 290 people aboard was quarantined in Foleyet, Ontario yesterday after a woman died and several others reported being ill. After doctors in hazardous materials suits boarded the train and ruled out a serious infectious disease, the train was to resume its journey to Toronto, officials said. The train originated in Vancouver.
Associated Press
