National news
Embassy cancels event in wake of terror threat
Islamabad, Pakistan A terrorist threat prompted the U.S. Embassy to cancel an Independence Day reception and the British High Commission to close Monday, officials said.
Pakistan’s government ordered security reinforced around the heavily-guarded diplomatic enclave in the capital.
Tensions in Pakistan were high after a series of bombings.
Kidnap leaders caught
Mexico City Authorities on Monday announced the capture of two suspected leaders of a kidnapping ring that targeted housewives.
Police believe the suspects chiefly operated in two upscale shopping malls in Mexico City. A group of housewives picked one of the shopping centers to host an anti-crime protest last month.
Mexican official resigns
Mexico City President Vicente Fox’s chief of staff resigned Monday, indicating even his most trusted staff have become disillusioned with his administration and his wife’s possible campaign to succeed him.
Alfonso Durazo turned in a 19-page letter saying he objected to first lady Marta Sahagun’s presidential ambitions and claiming the administration was repeating vices of the old ruling party Fox unseated after decades in power.
Ten suspects face trial
Paris Ten suspected terrorists, including a man believed to be a top Osama bin Laden lieutenant in Europe, will stand trial for a millennium plot to attack a Christmas market in the eastern French city of Strasbourg, officials said Monday.
A German court last year convicted four Algerians for plotting to bomb the market. French investigators believe others in France, all Algerians or French-Algerians, had a hand in the plan. All are suspected of involvement in a plan to attack the market on New Year’s Eve 2000.
Food poisoning kills 11
Patna, India
Eleven children died and about 60 others fell ill after eating food served at a temple celebration, officials said Monday.
The children were among hundreds of people who attended the Guru Poornima festival Friday in eastern Bihar state. The celebration included handouts of free food believed to be blessed by the gods.
Dozens of children complained of nausea and diarrhea over the weekend, and seven died over Saturday and Sunday, an official said. Four more child died Monday.
Bihar is one of India’s poorest states. For many poor families, free food given after religious ceremonies at Hindu temples is a welcome addition to their diets.
It was not immediately clear why only children were known to have been sickened by the food.
British limit spanking
London British lawmakers on Monday voted against a ban on parents spanking their children, deciding instead to tighten existing rules.
After a three-hour debate in the House of Lords, peers rejected the ban by 250 votes to 75.
Instead, they voted by 226-91 to allow moderate spanking but make it easier to prosecute parents who physically or mentally abuse their children by spanking.
The amendment must be approved by the House of Commons before becoming law.
Protests over bullfights
Madrid, Spain Several hundred animal rights activists – some in their underwear, others topless – marched through the streets of Pamplona Monday to condemn bullfighting on the eve of the Spanish city’s wildly popular running of the bulls.
About 200 supporters of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals came from 15 countries to march along the same cobblestone route that bulls and daredevil humans cover every July in a series of mad dashes from a holding pen to the bullring.
The protesters had planned to run totally nude but could not because they didn’t get the necessary town hall permit, media reported.
The first of eight bull runs is set Wednesday.