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Argentina 'Dirty War' dictator Videla dies

Agence France-PresseMay 17, 2013 15:00

General Jorge Videla, Argentina's dictator at the height of its "Dirty War" against leftist activists, died Friday in prison while serving time for crimes against humanity. He was 87. Videla launched a ferocious crackdown on leftists and suspected supporters when he took power in 1976. As many as 30,000 people were kidnapped and "disappeared" by the military and suspected regime opponents were swept into secret prisons, tortured and murdered.

Amnesty International cites Canadian foot-dragging on UN torture concerns

The Canadian PressMay 15, 2013 17:37

OTTAWA - Canada is obstructing efforts to compensate three men who suffered torture in Syria — effectively ignoring a key recommendation from the United Nations Committee against Torture, says Amnesty International. In a brief to the UN committee, the human rights group says it is "profoundly concerned" that Canada has not heeded the committee's call to provide redress to Abdullah Almalki, Ahmad El-Maati and Muayyed Nureddin. The three Arab-Canadians were brutalized in Syrian prisons, in part due to lapses by Canadian agencies documented by a federal inquiry in 2008.

Hong Kong official under fire for rape remarks

Agence France-PresseMay 15, 2013 10:00

Hong Kong's security minister came under fire Wednesday for saying that women should "not drink too much" if they wanted to avoid being raped. Secretary for Security Lai Tung-kwok was presenting figures on crime in the city for the first quarter, which showed that rape cases soared 60 percent, when he made the comments. "All of these (rape) cases happened between those who know each other. They are either friends, close friends or they just met a few hours ago," Lai said Tuesday.

Senior Mexican drug cartel member jailed for 35 years

Agence France-PresseMay 13, 2013 18:32

A high-ranking Mexican drug cartel chief was jailed for 35 years on Monday for plotting to smuggle vast quantities of cocaine and marijuana into the United States, justice officials said. Aurelio Cano Flores, described by the Justice Department as a senior member of the Gulf Cartel, was convicted of conspiring to import "multi-ton" shipments of drugs into the US following a trial in February. The 40-year-old was also ordered to forfeit a staggering $15 billion in drug proceeds as part of a financial judgment.

2 Spanish businessmen murdered in northwest Mexico

Agencia EFEMay 12, 2013 13:01

Culiacan, Mexico, May 12 (EFE).- The bullet-riddled bodies of two Spanish businessmen were found inside a vehicle that was pushed into a canal in Culiacan, the capital of the northwestern Mexican state of Sinaloa, officials said. Jose Montoya Lozada, 58, and Fernando Carmona Romero, 57, worked as merchants and had their residences in Spain, the Sinaloa Attorney General's Office said. Passersby spotted the vehicle in the Humaya canal around 8:40 a.m. Saturday and notified police, the AG's office said.

Gunmen kidnap wife, daughter of court judge in Nigeria

Agence France-PresseMay 12, 2013 08:16

Gunmen have kidnapped the wife, daughter and driver of a supreme court judge on a road in southern Nigeria apparently hoping for a ransom payment, police said Sunday. "Three people were seized from their car at a point on the Sagamu-Benin expressway on Friday," a senior police officer in southern Edo State who did not want to be named told AFP. "We understand the victims are the wife, daughter and driver of Justice Bode Rhodes-Vivour of the Supreme Court," he said.

Charred bodies of Canadian mafiosi found in Sicily

Agence France-PresseMay 11, 2013 16:46

Paramilitary police have found two charred bodies in Sicily of Italian-Canadian gangsters suspected of drug trafficking to Canada who were being sought in a raid that netted 21 alleged mafiosi. The two bodies, discovered at a garbage tip on Wednesday, were that of Juan Ramon Fernandez, 57, known as "Joe Bravo", and Fernando Pimentel, 36, said the Carabinieri police in a statement on Thursday.

Police end hostage standoff in New Jersey, detain suspect

Thomson ReutersMay 11, 2013 14:15

NEWARK, New Jersey (Reuters) - A tense weekend standoff in a South Trenton, New Jersey, neighborhood ended early on Sunday when police took a man into custody after he held several children hostage for about 36 hours. "The hostage situation has been resolved," State Police Sergeant Adam Grossman told Reuters. "The children are safe." Grossman said the suspect was taken into custody at 3:45 a.m. EDT (0745 GMT), but declined to comment on his identity or any other details of the standoff.

Mexican navy nabs suspected cartel money man

Agencia EFEMay 10, 2013 17:15

Mexico City, May 10 (EFE).- Navy personnel arrested a man suspected of managing financial operations for the fearsome Los Zetas drug cartel, the Mexican government said. Alfonso Zamudio Quijada was nabbed Wednesday as he left a house in Monclova, a city in the northern state of Coahuila, Government Secretariat official Eduardo Sanchez Hernandez said. Zamudio offered no resistance, Sanchez said, crediting an anonymous tip for the arrest.

Ex-Enron CEO Skilling's sentence could be reduced by a decade; restitution to start being paid

The Canadian PressMay 10, 2013 06:14

HOUSTON - Convicted ex-Enron Corp. CEO Jeffrey Skilling's more than 24-year prison sentence for his role in the once mighty energy giant's collapse could be reduced by as many as 10 years if a federal judge approves an agreement reached Wednesday between prosecutors and defence attorneys. Under the agreement, which Justice Department officials say includes a previous court-ordered reduction of as much as nine years, Skilling's original sentence will be reduced to somewhere between 14 and 17.5 years.