Big Ben takes maintenance break

London London landmark Big Ben fell silent Saturday to undergo 32 hours of essential maintenance – its longest shutdown in 22 years.

The clock, in the tower of Westminster Palace – London’s Houses of Parliament, stopped after 8 a.m. local time Saturday, and is not expected to be back in action until 4 p.m. today. Specialist engineers are examining the clock while workers from the Whitechapel Bell Foundry will be replacing the rubber hammer buffers on three of the four quarter bells, the Westminster chimes, and on Big Ben, the 13-ton bell that tolls the hour.

After the buffers are replaced, the bells must be re-tuned, which takes several hours.

Israel attacks sites in northern Gaza

Gaza City Israeli aircraft and artillery pounded the northern Gaza Strip on Saturday, targeting roads and open areas it said Palestinians used to launch rocket attacks against southern Israel.

Palestinian Interior Minister Nasser Yousef told his security chiefs that “firm and serious action” would be taken against any militant facility for manufacturing or storing weapons, his office said in a statement Saturday. But Palestinian security forces “would not enter any house looking for weapons,” the statement added, reflecting Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas’ reluctance to forcibly disarm gunmen, an action he fears would provoke civil war.

Israel’s air and artillery strikes and the Palestinian statement capped a week of confrontations that began Monday with the killing of a top Islamic Jihad gunman blamed in the deaths of 12 Israelis in recent months.

Vatican honors martyrs from Spanish Civil War

Vatican City Seven priests and a nun who were killed during the Spanish Civil War were beatified as martyrs Saturday at a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, praised for having refused to betray their faith when faced with death.

Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, prefect of the Congregation for Saints, presided over the late afternoon ceremony, saying in an opening prayer that the eight had “sacrificed their lives for the Gospel.”

All eight were killed in 1936, in the opening days of Spain’s civil war. The Catholic Church claims 4,184 clergy were killed during the war by the government, or Republican, side, which accused the church of backing fascist Gen. Francisco Franco.

Guatemala prisons targeted by gangs

Guatemala City A group of gang members opened fire on a prison truck here Saturday, killing two guards as they were leaving work at the end of their shift and wounding a third, a top official said.

The assailants apparently used assault weapons to kill the guards as they were leaving the “Pavoncito” prison, six miles southeast of the capital, Guatemala City, said Sandra Sayas, director-general of Guatemala’s prison system.

The attack came just a day after members of the dangerous Mara Salvatrucha gang rioted at El Boqueron prison 30 miles west of Guatemala City, threatening to decapitate two guards until officials agreed to allow televisions in cells, permit conjugal visits and transfer a group of prisoners who are not gang members to another facility.

Electrocution of youths sparks riots in France

Paris French youths rioted for a second straight night in a Paris suburb, torching cars and throwing rocks at police to protest the deaths of two youths who were electrocuted while trying to evade police, officials said.

Fifteen officers and a journalist were injured in the disturbances Friday night and Saturday morning in Clichy-sous-Bois, north of the capital, officials said.

Police firing tear gas restored order about 2 a.m. Saturday and detained 14 people, officials said.

The two boys, 15 and 17, died near an electrical transformer where they sought cover while fleeing from police Thursday evening. A third youth suffered serious burns.