Baghdad car bombs, other attacks kill 46
BAGHDAD – A coordinated wave of seven car bombs tore through bustling commercial streets Saturday night in Shiite areas of Baghdad, part of a relentless wave of violence that killed at least 46 inside and outside the capital.
The car bombs detonated after the iftar meal that breaks the daily fast of the holy month of Ramadan. Many people head out to shop or relax in coffee shops in the cooler evenings after fasting ends.
Bombings and other attacks now have killed more than 250 people since the start of Ramadan on July 10, according to an Associated Press count. Although there was no immediate claim of responsibility, coordinated bombings against Shiites are a favorite tactic of al-Qaida’s Iraq branch.
Catholic youths descend on Rio to see pope
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – Thousands of young Roman Catholics from around the Americas are converging on Rio de Janeiro, taking dayslong bus trips or expensive plane flights that were paid for by baking cookies and holding garage sales, running raffles and bingo tournaments and even begging for coins in public plazas.
Some of the poorest traveled from so-called “misery villages” in Argentina’s capital, thanks to donations from the Buenos Aires archdiocese. Their agenda at World Youth Day includes meeting with other disadvantaged youngsters in Manguinhos, a favela Pope Francis plans to visit, and sharing stories about Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the subway-riding Argentine Jesuit they now affectionately call their “slum pope.”
In all, 350,000 young Catholics signed up, similar to previous World Youth Days that later attracted much larger crowds. In any case, Brazilian authorities prepared to receive a million or more visitors during the pope’s weeklong stay starting Monday.
Envoy: Ex-Marine not part of U.S. mission
BOGOTA, Colombia – A former U.S. Marine who Colombia’s main insurgency says it “captured’ a month ago in a turbulent southeastern region is not a member of the U.S. mission and should be released immediately, Washington’s ambassador said Saturday.
The rebels had offered to free Kevin Scott Sutay as a good-faith gesture in announcing on their website that he was in their custody.
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, said Sutay had described himself as a 2010-11 veteran of the Afghan conflict who had left the armed forces in March.
It did not disclose how it came into possession of Sutay but suggested he was “a mercenary.”
U.S. Ambassador Michael McKinley denied that, saying Sutay was not an active member of the military.
Five convicted for shipwreck in Italy
GROSSETO, Italy – Five employees of an Italian cruise company were convicted Saturday of manslaughter in the Costa Concordia shipwreck that killed 32 people, receiving sentences of less than three years that lawyers for victims and survivors criticized as too lenient.
The guilty verdicts for multiple manslaughter and negligence were the first reached in the sinking of the cruise liner carrying more than 4,000 crew and passengers near the Tuscan shore in January 2012.
The ship’s captain, the only remaining defendant, was denied a plea bargain and is being tried separately. He faces up to 20 years, if convicted of manslaughter, causing the shipwreck and abandoning the ship.
Italy: Panama rejected bid to hold ex-CIA chief
PANAMA CITY – Italy’s justice minister says her country formally asked Panama to hold an ex-CIA base chief convicted of illegally abducting a terrorism suspect, and adds that she “deeply regrets” Panama’s decision to let him return to the U.S.
Annamaria Cancellieri said in a statement that Italy asked Panama to hold Robert Seldon Lady, and the request was “rejected without plausible explanation.”
Panamanian Public Safety Minister Jose Mulino said Friday that Seldon Lady was freed from detention and sent to the U.S. because Italy didn’t formally request his extradition within the allotted 48 hours.
Panamanian Foreign Ministry officials did not respond Saturday to questions about the discrepancy in the version of events.
Seldon Lady faces prison in Italy after being convicted in absentia in the 2003 abduction of an Egyptian terrorism suspect.
Associated Press
