Mayor says London rife with terror plots

London Terrorists tried to attack London eight times between the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States and last July 7, when suicide bombers killed dozens on the city’s transport system, London’s mayor said Monday.

Ken Livingstone said there had been two attempted attacks since July 7, including a failed attack on the transport network on July 21.

Livingstone did not provide details of the attempted attacks, but said those who threaten London comprise small groups of disaffected people who are fairly disorganized.

He dismissed suggestions by some government ministers and police chiefs that the city is the target of a “great organized international conspiracy.”

Fatal shooting disrupts Toronto shoppers

Toronto One person was shot to death and six others wounded Monday in a shooting on a Toronto street crowded with holiday shoppers, police said.

They said two suspects were arrested and at least one firearm was seized shortly after the 5:30 p.m. violence near the popular Eaton Centre shopping mall.

Details were sketchy. Police did not immediately say if the two were suspected of opening fire or if the victims had been purposely targeted.

Officials said the six wounded were hospitalized, including an off-duty officer who was hit in the leg.

A rash of recent gun deaths in Toronto prompted Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin to announce earlier this month that his government would ban handguns if he were re-elected in the Jan. 23 elections.

Pinochet loses appeal to Chilean high court

Santiago, Chile Chile’s top court on Monday refused to drop charges against Gen. Augusto Pinochet in the disappearance of six dissidents during his military regime, and ruled that the former dictator must remain under house arrest.

A panel of the Supreme Court voted 3-2 to reject the appeal filed by the defense lawyers for the 90-year-old former ruler, said one of the judges, Alberto Chaigneau.

It was the latest in a string of legal setbacks for Pinochet in his long fight against human rights and corruption charges.

He has been under house arrest since Nov. 24, when he was indicted for the six disappearances.

In his rejected appeal, Pinochet had argued that those behind the disappearances could not be prosecuted because of a law providing amnesty for crimes committed between 1973 and 1978.

The Supreme Court did not explain its ruling Monday, but it has previously argued the amnesty law does not cover unresolved disappearances.

2 officers thought dead in drawbridge mishap

Jersey City, N.J. Two police officers in an emergency truck plunged more than 40 feet off an open drawbridge in thick fog. One was killed; the other was missing and feared dead.

The vehicle fell into the Hackensack River on Sunday night, after the officers crossed the Lincoln Highway Bridge and placed flares to warn motorists that the bridge’s safety warning system was not operating, said Police Chief Robert Troy.

Before the officers turned around and drove back across the river, the bridge’s middle span was raised to allow a tugboat to go under.

“They dropped off the cones and the flares, wished everyone a Merry Christmas and were joking around. From what I’ve heard they were all in good spirits,” Mayor Jerramiah Healy said.

“The horrible irony is they were responding to the very situation that caused their demise. The bridge operator wanted cones and flares and our police department was the first to respond.”

The safety bar and bell used to warn motorists when the bridge is open had not been working for two days because a vehicle had crashed into them, officials said.