ALGIERS, Algeria — The head of OPEC said Russia and three other noncartel members will take part in the oil producers’ summit next week in Oran, Algeria. Chakib Khelil said Saturday that Russia will send its deputy prime minister in charge of energy and its oil minister to Wednesday’s summit. The other guest countries invited by the 14-member cartel are Oman, Azerbaijan and Syria. Khelil said a final consensus has been reached by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to reduce oil output levels.
Pakistan: Incident with Indian jets
Indian aircraft violated Pakistan’s airspace Saturday but were chased back over the border by Pakistani fighter jets, an Air Force spokesman here said. The alleged incident comes amid heightened tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals over last month’s deadly attack in Mumbai. India has said the attack, which left more than 170 people dead, had roots in Pakistan. The Pakistan information minister said the Indian Air Force had told Pakistan the incursion was “inadvertent.”
Sri Lanka: Air force bombs rebels
Sri Lankan air force Saturday bombed ethnic Tamil separatists near their de facto capital in the north, the government said. Fighter jets bombed nine times to the west and northwest of the Tamil Tiger rebel headquarters in Kilinochchi, a military spokesman said. He said pilots confirmed some rebel bunkers were successfully hit but casualty details were not available. Government forces have been locked in intense battles with the rebels on the edge of Kilinochchi for weeks despite predicting the city’s “imminent fall.”
Italy: Tiber sweeps tourist away
Police divers in Rome searched the swollen Tiber river Saturday for an Irish tourist who fell in while watching the waters rise from days of heavy rains that have thrashed much of Italy. The rains stopped for a few hours Saturday but started again in the afternoon, and more rain was expected today. Nevertheless, civil protection officials said the threat that the Tiber might burst its banks appeared to have receded. Rome’s mayor said Saturday the situation appeared under control, but he said the city had to be prepared for today’s expected storms.
Venezuela: Raul Castro visits
Raul Castro began his first international trip as Cuba’s president in Venezuela on Saturday, a symbolic choice of destination aimed at strengthening ties with the island’s socialist ally and main benefactor. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has long been a close ally of Raul Castro’s iconic older brother — Fidel Castro — who in February ceded power to the 77-year-old Raul because of illness. The choice of Venezuela as Raul Castro’s first foreign trip reflects Cuba’s reliance on the oil-rich nation’s backing.
Germany: Twin polar bear cubs die
Germany’s Nuremberg zoo says a 3-week-old polar bear cub has died just days after its twin. The first cub died Monday. The zoo says the second cub appeared weak Friday and died around 2 p.m. The bears were born last month to the mother of the zoo’s celebrity polar bear, Flocke. Flocke was rejected in December 2007 by her mother, Vera, and hand-raised. The zoo said it did not yet know the cause of death.
Texas: Prison hostages released
Authorities in Texas say an uprising at a privately run prison has ended after the release of two hostages. A State Department of Public Safety dispatcher said outside law enforcement officers returned control of the Reeves County Detention Center to prison personnel Saturday morning. She said no law enforcement personnel were injured. Police told the Pecos Enterprise that the inmates, who include federal immigration detainees, were asking for better medical treatment. The prison holds more than 2,400 inmates.
Georgia: Courtroom killer gets life
A judge on Saturday sentenced the man who killed four people in a brazen courthouse escape to multiple life sentences with no chance of parole after a deadlocked jury failed to return a death sentence. Brian Nichols, 37, was found guilty last month of murder and dozens of other counts for the March 2005 rampage that started in a downtown Atlanta courthouse, led to an Atlanta neighborhood and ended with his capture the next day in a suburban county. He will likely die in prison after the Superior Court judge handed down the maximum sentence on each charge. “If there was any more I could give you, I would,” the judge said.
California: Life term for pastor
A country preacher will serve a life sentence without parole for the murder of an elderly man who had entrusted him with his life savings. A Stanislaus County Superior Court judge also sentenced Howard Porter on Friday to 12 years to life for an earlier attempt on the life of 85-year-old Frank Craig, as well as five years for theft. The sentences will run consecutively. A jury convicted Porter, of the Hickman Community Church, in August of murdering Craig in a car crash to cover up the embezzlement of $1.1 million.
From Herald news services
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