Ex-Argentine army chief is ordered jailed by judge
Buenos Aires, Argentina – A federal judge ordered the detention Wednesday of Argentina’s former army chief as part of a probe into a student’s violent death during the country’s “Dirty War.”
Rights groups say as many as 30,000 may have died during the 1976-83 military dictatorship’s fight against mostly leftist dissidents.
Judge Cristina Garzo de Lascano ordered Luciano Benjamin Menendez to be held – as well as 15 other former officers – after probing the Sept. 3, 1976, abduction of student Diego Hunziker.
The judge said Hunziker, 18, was abducted in central Cordoba province by an armed group suspected of acting for the Third Army Corps, a unit commanded at the time by Menendez.
Witnesses said Hunziker was tortured and then killed three weeks later.
In June, the Supreme Court struck down sweeping amnesties that shielded hundreds of former officers, including Menendez, from prosecution. Menendez is already under house arrest in other cases stemming from the dictatorship.
HUNTSVILLE, Texas
Woman executed for deaths of spouse, kids
Frances Newton was executed Wednesday at the Texas state prison for the fatal shootings of her husband and two children 18 years ago, becoming the third woman, and the first black woman, to be put to death in the state since executions resumed in 1982.
Strapped to the death-chamber gurney and with her parents among those watching, she declined to make a final statement, quietly saying “no.”
Newton, 40, briefly turned her head to look at her family as the drugs began flowing. She appeared to try to mouth something to her relatives, but the drugs took effect. She coughed once and gasped as her eyes closed. She was pronounced dead eight minutes later.
CLOVIS, Calif.
Schwarzenegger hints at re-election bid
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger all but declared his intent Wednesday to run for re-election next year, telling a friendly audience that his job isn’t finished and that he would announce his plans Friday.
“I’m not in this just for the short term. I believe very strongly in follow-through,” he told a supporter who asked whether he’d have the chance to vote again for the former actor. “You sent me to Sacramento to fix a broken system, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
TORONTO, Canada
Religious groups vow to fight for tribunals
Jews and Muslims in Ontario pledged Wednesday to fight for faith-based tribunals to settle family disputes after the premier stunned their communities by announcing he would ban all religious arbitration in Canada’s largest province.
Ontario appeared well on its way to becoming the first Western jurisdiction to allow the use of Shariah, an ancient set of Islamic rules, to settle some Muslim family disputes.
The province has allowed Catholic and Jewish tribunals to settle family-law matters since 1991. The practice got little attention until Muslim leaders demanded the same rights.
Frank Dimant, executive vice president of B’nai Brith Canada, said Premier Dalton McGuinty’s surprise announcement to scrap the tribunals was unfair and that B’nai Brith is considering a constitutional challenge.
LAGOS, Nigeria
Thousands protest fuel price increases
Police watched from open- backed trucks Wednesday as thousands of Nigerians marched in a peaceful protest against steep increases in fuel prices in Africa’s largest oil producer.
The rally, the first in what unions say will be two weeks of protests throughout Nigeria, ended with demonstrators presenting their grievances in a petition to the Lagos governor.
The government ordered price increases last month of up to 40 percent on fuels such as gas and diesel to try to bring subsidized prices closer in line with international norms. The increases are making life harder for Nigeria’s 130 million people, 70 percent of whom live on less than a dollar a day.
BERLIN
NATO combat role in Afghanistan nixed
European allies rejected a U.S. suggestion Wednesday that NATO take on counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan.
Germany, France and Spain made clear that they would not allow the 11,000 NATO peacekeepers in the Central Asian nation to become embroiled in the military effort to quell a Taliban-led insurgency. They also opposed talk of merging the NATO mission with a U.S.-led coalition force.
