Pleas entered in bomb plot case
Three men accused of plotting to blow up trans-Atlantic airliners in 2006 have pleaded guilty to conspiring to set off bombs, but denied targeting planes or attempting to cause injuries, prosecutors told a London court Monday as one of Britain’s most important terrorism trials neared its end.
The three men – Abdulla Ahmed Ali, 27, Assad Sarwar, 28, and Tanvir Hussain, 27 – and five other British Muslim defendants have pleaded not guilty to the most serious charge against them, conspiracy to murder.
Ali and Sarwar testified during the trial that they intended to set off bombs at Parliament or other high-profile sites. They said the bombs were not intended to cause injury, but were to be a “publicity stunt” in protest of British participation in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
During his final arguments at the Woolwich Crown Court Monday, prosecutor Peter Wright told jurors that the defendants’ explanations were “inherently improbable” and “bogus.”
MEXICO CITY
At least 21 killed in drug gang wars
At least 21 people, including a 12-year-old girl and other innocent citizens, have been killed by warring drug gangs since Thursday in the western state of Sinaloa, in one of the worst spasms of violence in memory in a region long conditioned to narcotics-related savagery.
A wave of mayhem that began with the audacious daytime shooting deaths of a dozen people in the capital of Culiacan continued during the weekend and into Monday. The deaths have terrified the public and left many people questioning the effectiveness of the federal government’s ongoing crackdown on drug trafficking.
An editorial in Monday’s national daily El Universal cast doubt on President Felipe Calderon’s decision to play hardball with the nation’s drug kingpins, a strategy the United States has encouraged and backed with millions of dollars in assistance.
“Direct confrontation has only escalated the violence,” the newspaper said.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates
Police crack down on beach bareness
Westerners were getting too racy on the beaches of this Persian Gulf tourist haven, and a police crackdown on topless sunbathing, nudity and indecent behavior has resulted in 79 arrests in the past two weeks.
Undercover officers are strolling the sand while others stand guard in watchtowers to enforce the social mores of this Muslim city-state, which is a booming business center attracting growing hordes of foreign tourists.
Authorities said they began the decency campaign after police detained a British man and a woman who were allegedly having sex on one of Dubai’s sprawling beaches earlier this month.
SYDNEY, Australia
Ruling lets activists protest pope’s visit
A court struck down a new law today that banned people from annoying participants of a Roman Catholic youth festival in Australia that the pope plans to attend, ruling that the law restricted free speech.
The ruling handed down on the opening day of the six-day World Youth Day festival paves the way for activists to hand out condoms and coat hangers – symbolizing abortions – to pilgrims in a demonstration planned for Saturday.
The regulations had made behavior that caused annoyance or inconvenience to festival participants punishable by fines up $5,300.
Pope Benedict XVI is in Sydney for World Youth Day, which officials say has drawn more than 200,000 pilgrims from around the world.