Beatings, ruling draw U.S. rebukes

Despite U.S. criticism, police beat pro-reform protesters in the streets and arrested more than 300 for the second week in a row Thursday as Egyptian courts dealt new setbacks to activists seeking greater democracy.

While club-wielding police chased activists in downtown Cairo, a court rejected the appeal of prominent opposition leader Ayman Nour, the runner-up in last year’s presidential elections. The ruling means Nour will have to serve a five-year prison sentence on forgery charges he says are intended to eliminate him from politics.

The United States sharply criticized the ruling, saying it and the violence “raise serious concerns about the path to political reform in Egypt.”

Also Thursday, another court issued a reprimand against Hesham el-Bastawisy, a judge on Egypt’s highest court who went public with accusations of fraud during parliament elections monitored by judges in November and December.

Shanghai, China

Typhoon claims at least 21 lives

A powerful typhoon pummeled southern China on Thursday, killing at least 21 people and leaving 27 Vietnamese fishermen missing after their boats sank in Chinese waters.

Chanchu, which was downgraded to a tropical storm, has killed more than 60 people in Asia, including 37 last weekend in the Philippines, where it destroyed thousands of homes.

By early today the dramatically weakened storm had moved into the East China Sea.

Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

Detainees ‘stable’ after suicide try

Two prisoners at the sprawling detention camp here attempted suicide Thursday by ingesting hoarded medications and were “clinically stable” after emergency medical treatment, a spokesman for the U.S. military-run prison said.

Neither the identities nor the nationalities of the two were released, as has been the practice of camp authorities in their terse disclosures about “self-harm” incidents and hunger strikes.

“Since the detention mission began in 2002, there have been a total of 39 suicide attempts at Guantanamo by 23 detainees,” said Cmdr. Robert Durand, director of public affairs for the prison and interrogation network. “A single detainee accounts for 12 of the 39 attempts.”

That persistent effort has been attributed by legal sources to Juma Al Dosari, a 31-year-old Bahraini who also reportedly tried to kill himself in March by ripping out stitches from a previously self-inflicted wound.