■UNITED STATES
Alabama judge in sex trial
A former Alabama judge was to go on trial yesterday on charges of having sex with male inmates in exchange for leniency. Herman Thomas resigned as circuit judgeship in 2007 after being accused of having defendants pull down their underwear for paddlings in his private courthouse office. A Mobile County grand jury indicted him in the spring on charges of having sex with inmates brought to a private courthouse office. The charges of sodomy, kidnapping, sex abuse, extortion and assault involve 15 current and former inmates at the jail in Mobile. Thomas’ attorney, Robert Clark, said the inmates were lying and trying to ruin an outstanding legal career.
■ARGENTINA
Nation mourns singer
President Cristina Kirchner on Sunday ordered an official period of mourning for folk singer Mercedes Sosa, who died on Sunday in Buenos Aires after falling seriously ill with a liver ailment earlier in the week. Kirchner and her husband, former president Nestor Kirchner, joined Cabinet members in an emotional farewell for the singer and national folk hero, whose body was held in state in parliament. Thousands of Argentines filed past her open casket in the most formal room of parliament, the Pasos perdidos room (the room of lost steps). The steady stream of mourners continued well into the night as they passed by the artist, known fondly by her nickname of Negra (the black one). “Mercedes was the most important voice and had a huge heart for all those who suffered,” Colombia pop star Shakira said in a statement. “She left us with remembrances of the sincerity of her performances as well as the light of her words and compassion.”
■CANADA
Sixteen activists arrested
Authorities arrested 16 people on Sunday after Greenpeace activists scaled three smoke stacks at a Shell operation in their latest action protesting the exploitation of Canada’s vast oil sands. Activists from Canada, France, Australia and Brazil occupied part of an upgrader machine Shell is building at its Scotford site in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, to convert oil sands into fuel, the group said in a statement. By the time the protest ended on Sunday, authorities have detained 16 members, Greenpeace said. Producing tar sand oil takes more energy and emits more greenhouse gases than exploiting liquid oil wells.
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