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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

In brief: Ladies in White shouted down

From Wire Reports

Havana – Hundreds of government supporters surrounded a small group of Cuban dissidents as they marched through Havana on Thursday on the seventh anniversary of the arrests of their loved ones, screaming abuse but otherwise allowing the protest to proceed peacefully.

The Ladies in White, most of them mothers and wives of some of the 75 dissidents arrested in the March 18, 2003, crackdown, have vowed to protest every day this week to call attention to the plight of political prisoners, many of whom have been sentenced to decades behind bars.

“We are marching because we have spent seven years in pain and suffering since the jailing of 75 peaceful opposition figures,” said Tania Montoya Vazquez, whose husband was sentenced to five years in jail in 2008.

The moment the women stepped out of a church on Cuba Street in Old Havana on Thursday morning, they were surrounded by pro-government demonstrators who had been milling about outside.

Two shot dead in Old Montreal

Montreal – A brazen daytime shooting left two people dead and two injured Thursday in Old Montreal’s busiest financial district, which is also a popular tourist area.

Const. Annie Lemieux said the shooting took place at a high-end clothing store on St. Jacques Street, in the historic part of the city, which was once the heart of Canada’s financial sector and still houses elegant old bank buildings.

Police, responding to a rash of emergency calls, found one man dead in the store. A second victim died later Thursday.

Police were on the hunt for a pair of suspects who fled the scene wearing white bandanas over their faces.