■ UNITED STATES
Treasure won't remain secret
A federal judge has denied a bid by Florida deep-sea explorers to keep secret the details of a 19th-century shipwreck that has yielded US$500 million in treasure, a ruling the Spanish government applauded on Friday. Judge Mark Pizzo threw out Odyssey Marine Exploration’s request on Thursday to keep information including the identity of the ship sealed as the company argues with Spain over ownership of the 17 tonnes of silver coins and other artifacts retrieved last year. The company followed with a news release announcing that the shipwreck was likely the Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes y las Animas, a Spanish galleon that sank in the Atlantic Ocean southwest of Portugal in 1804.
■ RUSSIA
Pastor asks for mercy
An American pastor charged with illegally bringing hunting ammunition into Russia has asked a Moscow court for mercy. Fifty-two-year-old Phillip Miles of South Carolina has been in a Russian jail since his arrest on Feb. 3. Airport officials found a box of hunting ammunition in his luggage. He said it was a gift for a friend. Miles apologized to the court on Friday and recounted his humanitarian work in Russia, a country he often visits.
■ UNITED STATES
CNN's Quest arrested
A New York judge ordered CNN reporter Richard Quest to undergo six months of counseling on Friday after Quest was arrested in Central Park for possession of a controlled substance, his lawyer said. The British reporter is known for his boisterous and quirky style, especially on CNN International. He was arrested at 3:40am on Friday in New York’s Central Park for being in the park after a 1am curfew. Police discovered a plastic bag containing what was believed to be methamphetamine in his pocket, police spokesman John Grimphel said. Quest, 46, later appeared before State Court Judge Anthony Ferrara, who told him the case would be dismissed if he attends counseling, Quest’s lawyer, Alan Abramson said. “Mr. Quest did not realize that the park had a curfew and was returning to his hotel with friends. The matter is scheduled to be dismissed,” Abramson said. Quest is a business news reporter on CNN International and hosts CNN Business Traveler as well as his own feature program, Quest.
■ ITALY
Man sentenced for staring
An Italian man was given a suspended jail sentence for staring too intensely at a woman sitting in front of him on a train. A judge sentenced the man in his 30s, whose name was not revealed, to 10 days in prison and a 40 euros (US$63) fine after a 55-year-old woman filed a complaint for sexual harrassment. The two met on two separate occasions in 2005 on a commuter train going from Lecco, a town in northern Italy, to Milan. The first time, the man sat next to the woman but she felt he had moved too close for comfort. The next day, the man sat in front of the same woman and according to her complaint, stared at her for the whole journey. The two did not speak.
■ MEXICO
Army helicopter crashes
An army helicopter crashed during anti-narcotics operations on Friday, killing 11 soldiers, local authorities said. The helicopter went down at around midday in a rural area in Michoacan State, a major front in the government’s army-led war against drug cartels, the state attorney general’s office said, without giving the cause of the crash.
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