MEXICO CITY – The police commander who led a botched raid on a Mexico City nightclub will be charged with 12 counts of homicide, one for each person who died in the crush at the bar's entrance, prosecutors said yesterday.
City Attorney General Rodolfo Félix Cárdenas said his office is bringing the charges against precinct commander Guillermo Zayas for failing to halt Friday's mismanaged raid, in which one group of police tried to force youths out of the club while another blocked the exit to prevent them from leaving.
The club patrons, mainly minors, were caught in the middle. Nine of them were crushed or asphyxiated near the club's narrow entrance, along with three police officers.
Associated Press
S. Korea modifies
ban on U.S. beef
SEOUL, South Korea – South Korea lifted an import ban on U.S. beef today, officials said, hoping to move on from a crisis that battered the pro-U.S. government with protests over mad-cow disease concerns.
South Korea and the United States agreed last week to restrict U.S. beef exports to younger cattle, modifying an earlier deal that placed few restrictions on meat shipments and sparked widespread outrage against the government.
U.S. beef was banned from South Korea in 2003 after the first case of mad cow disease was discovered in cattle there. South Korea had previously been the third-largest market for American beef. Limited imports were allowed last year before being again suspended.
Associated Press
India can't agree
on nuclear accord
NEW DELHI – India's governing party and its communist allies failed again to agree on the terms of a nuclear agreement with the United States yesterday, dimming prospects for the deal.
The Congress Party met with a coalition of communist parties last night in New Delhi for a caucus that was expected to yield a breakthrough in talks between the groups.
Instead, the external affairs minister, Pranab Mukherjee, emerged after the 90-minute meeting, and said both sides would meet again “in due course,” and then refused to answer questions.
India and the United States have been pushing since 2005 for the agreement, which would allow India access to U.S. nuclear technology and atomic fuel in exchange for India's agreement to allow international inspectors to view its reactors.
New York Times News Service
