SPAIN
Fugitive awarded prize
A fugitive who escaped from jail 25 years ago has been awarded one of the Basque country’s top literary awards, but was told he cannot have the money that goes with it until he hands himself in to the authorities. The Basque regional government gave the award to Joseba Sarrionandia on Monday, but it is withholding the 18,000 euro (US$24,000) stipend until he comes forward and “regularizes” his legal situation. Sarrionandia, now 53, escaped from a prison in the seaside city of San Sebastian in 1985 while serving time for belonging to the militant separatist group ETA by hiding inside the large speakers of a musical group that had performed at the jail. His spectacular escape was worthy of a movie scene and inspired a song named after him, the El Mundo daily reported.
IRELAND
Liam Adams to be extradited
A brother of Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams is to be extradited to Northern Ireland from the Republic of Ireland to face 18 charges of sexually abusing his daughter, a high court in the republic ruled on Monday. Liam Adams, 56, presented himself to police in December 2009 after Northern Irish police issued a European arrest warrant and Gerry Adams appealed for his brother to hand himself in. Liam Adams faces charges of rape, indecent assault and gross indecency. It is alleged the offenses occurred between 1977 and 1983 and that his daughter, who has waived her right to anonymity, was just five when they began. His lawyers had argued he would not receive a fair trial in Northern Ireland because of the “huge media publicity” surrounding the case and referred to a television interview in which Gerry Adams said he believed his niece’s allegations. Justice John Edwards said the courts in Northern Ireland would take all the necessary steps to ensure Liam Adams receives a fair trial.
FRANCE
Museums to return heads
France is set to hand the 20-odd mummified heads of Maori warriors still held by its museums back to New Zealand at a ceremony in January, Quai Branly museum president Stephane Martin said on Monday. Maori warriors tattooed their faces with elaborate geometric designs to show their rank. The recovered heads of those killed in battle were displayed and venerated until the soul was judged to have departed. The tattoos made them an object of fascination for European explorers, who collected and traded them from the 18th century onward. The country handed the tattooed, shrunken head of a Maori warrior that had been in possession of a museum in Rouen since 1875 back to New Zealand in May. The restitution followed a four-year political struggle which ended last year when the senate approved a law allowing the return to New Zealand of all Maori heads held in the country.
UNITED KINGDOM
Suitcase killer gets 24 years
A court has sentenced a man to at least 24 years in prison for killing a woman and leaving her body in a suitcase at Heathrow Airport. Metropolitan Police said 42-year-old Yousseff Ahmed Mosalam Wahid spent 12 years evading police after he murdered Fatima Kama in July 1999. The body of 28-year-old Kama was found in a suitcase in an airport parking lot. Police said Kama was visiting London, staying with Wahid at an apartment and was probably attacked there. Post mortem examinations showed she was stabbed and sexually assaulted. Wahid was found in Bahrain and was extradited last year.
UNITED STATES
Spock makes last showing
Leonard Nimoy has attended his final Star Trek convention. The 80-year-old actor, best known for playing Mr Spock in the original TV series that began in September 1966, formed four fingers into a “V” sign and intoned to fans Spock’s most famous phrase: “Live long and prosper.” Nimoy has said the convention in suburban Chicago celebrating the 45th anniversary of Star Trek would be his last. He spoke for an hour about his life and career and thanked fans for their support over the years.
MEXICO
Heads dumped near base
Two human heads were dumped near Mexico City’s main military base along with a message referring to a drug gang, authorities said on Monday. Mexico City Attorney General Miguel Mancera said the heads were found on a busy ring road with a note referring to the “Mano con Ojos,” or “Hand with Eyes,” drug gang. One head was in the trunk of an abandoned vehicle and the other was on the sidewalk. The nation’s warring drug gangs often carry out decapitations in violence-hit areas like Acapulco. Several beheadings have been seen in recent months in areas around the capital, which had largely been spared.
PERU
Five arrested for trafficking
Prosecutors said five people were been arrested on suspicion of human trafficking in police raids on brothels that rescued 293 women in a jungle region rife with illegal gold-mining. Police said the women were rescued from sexual slavery in the Amazon state of Madre de Dios. The weekend raids were on 60 houses of prostitution and involved more than 400 officers. Local prosecutor Fernando de Santa Maria said of the 293 women, at least five were minors, the youngest being 13.
UNITED STATES
Rescued sea lion was shot
Veterinarians caring for a sea lion that was rescued after waddling onto a busy northern California highway over the weekend said the animal suffered a gunshot wound. California Highway Patrol officers encountered the sea lion around 7am on Saturday after the agency received reports it crossed Highway 101. The animal then headed down an exit ramp, which police closed for two hours until rescuers from The Marine Mammal Center arrived. Veterinarians at the center initially thought the female, 60kg sea lion may have been disoriented from toxic algae poisoning. Test results are pending on the possible poisoning, but they also determined the animal had been shot in the jaw. Center officials said on Monday they’re developing a treatment plan for the sea lion.
UNITED STATES
Bear killed by park officials
A grizzly bear that fatally mauled a hiker in Yellowstone National Park was killed after DNA evidence linked the animal to the scene of a second hiker’s death a month later, a park official said on Monday. The decision to kill the 113kg female bear was meant to protect park visitors and staff, park superintendent Dan Wenk said. However, the investigation remains open and officials might never know definitively whether the same bear that killed California hiker Brian Matayoshi on July 7 also took the life of John Wallace of Michigan in August. Evidence showed multiple bears, including the sow, were near Wallace’s body, but not if the sow made any contact with Wallace. The bear was allowed to remain free after Matayoshi’s death because park officials said it was reacting naturally to defend its two cubs.
Young women standing idly around a park in Tokyo’s west suggest that a giant statue of Godzilla is not the only attraction for a record number of foreign tourists. Their faces lit by the cold glow of their phones, the women lining Okubo Park are evidence that sex tourism has developed as a dark flipside to the bustling Kabukicho nightlife district. Increasing numbers of foreign men are flocking to the area after seeing videos on social media. One of the women said that the area near Kabukicho, where Godzilla rumbles and belches smoke atop a cinema, has become a “real
Two Belgian teenagers on Tuesday were charged with wildlife piracy after they were found with thousands of ants packed in test tubes in what Kenyan authorities said was part of a trend in trafficking smaller and lesser-known species. Lornoy David and Seppe Lodewijckx, two 19-year-olds who were arrested on April 5 with 5,000 ants at a guest house, appeared distraught during their appearance before a magistrate in Nairobi and were comforted in the courtroom by relatives. They told the magistrate that they were collecting the ants for fun and did not know that it was illegal. In a separate criminal case, Kenyan Dennis
Incumbent Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa on Sunday claimed a runaway victory in the nation’s presidential election, after voters endorsed the young leader’s “iron fist” approach to rampant cartel violence. With more than 90 percent of the votes counted, the National Election Council said Noboa had an unassailable 12-point lead over his leftist rival Luisa Gonzalez. Official results showed Noboa with 56 percent of the vote, against Gonzalez’s 44 percent — a far bigger winning margin than expected after a virtual tie in the first round. Speaking to jubilant supporters in his hometown of Olon, the 37-year-old president claimed a “historic victory.” “A huge hug
A judge in Bangladesh issued an arrest warrant for the British member of parliament and former British economic secretary to the treasury Tulip Siddiq, who is a niece of former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted in August last year in a mass uprising that ended her 15-year rule. The Bangladeshi Anti-Corruption Commission has been investigating allegations against Siddiq that she and her family members, including Hasina, illegally received land in a state-owned township project near Dhaka, the capital. Senior Special Judge of Dhaka Metropolitan Zakir Hossain passed the order on Sunday, after considering charges in three separate cases filed
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