Argentina: Ex-leader calls smuggling charges ‘an invention’
Former President Carlos Menem defended himself Saturday against charges that he led an arms smuggling ring and said months of house arrest have left him yearning for freedom and a return to politics. A federal judge placed Mr. Menem under house arrest June 7 after accusing Argentina’s flamboyant former leader of heading a small group of former government officials who allegedly diverted weapons to Croatia and Ecuador. “A president can’t be controlling every port and airport where the arms could have gone,” Mr. Menem said. He called the charges politically motivated, dismissing them as “an invention.”
Scotland: Queen Mother misses games on doctors’ advice
The 101-year-old Queen Mother Elizabeth missed Scotland’s most famous Highland Games on Saturday after being warned by her doctors that she must rest. Hopes had been high that the much-loved mother of Queen Elizabeth II would be able to attend the annual Braemar Gathering, but doctors recommended she stay at home on the royal family’s Scottish estate Balmoral. Last month she was hospitalized in London for a blood transfusion to treat anemia.
Italy: 10 Germans held in G-8 violence ordered freed
A judge ordered the release Saturday of 10 Germans arrested by Italian police on suspicion they were involved in violence during July’s Group of Eight summit, news reports said. An 11th jailed German youth was ordered to be put under house arrest in Italy, the ANSA and Ap.Biscom news agencies reported. One Italian protester was shot and killed in the protests, and hundreds were injured. The Italian news reports said the Germans ordered freed on Saturday were suspected members of the Black Block, anarchists blamed for much of the violence in Genoa.
England: Official reportedly wants Chunnel camp closed
British Home Secretary David Blunkett has asked the French government to shut down the Red Cross refugee camp near the entrance to the Channel Tunnel, it was reported Saturday. Mr. Blunkett phoned Daniel Vaillant, France’s interior minister, to say the camp at Sangatte “was not helping” Britain combat illegal immigration, according to the Sunday Telegraph . The camp, which holds about 700 refugees, is just half a mile from the French entrance to the tunnel under the English Channel. A British Home Office spokesman would not confirm that Mr. Blunkett had asked for Sangatte to be closed.
Brazil: Country backs down on threat to copy AIDS drug
Brazil backed down on a threat to disregard patents and start making a generic version of a powerful AIDS drug Friday after a Swiss company promised to slash prices by 40 percent. Health Minister Jose Serra, who last week said Brazil would start producing a generic version of the drug Nelfinavir at a state-owned laboratory, announced that an agreement had been reached with the Roche group of Switzerland. Roche confirmed that it agreed to cut the price of the drug by 40 percent next year in exchange for continued patent protection.
Moscow: Putin-Bush meeting may be off, Kremlin hints
The Kremlin hinted Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin might not meet President Bush at his Texas ranch for a planned November summit on missile defense and other issues. A high-ranking Kremlin aide, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Russian news service RIA-Novosti that the meeting was “not an end in itself” and depends on what happens when the leaders meet in Shanghai at an economic summit in October. In Washington, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said of the meeting, “I think there’s no question that [it] will occur.”
Italy: Rome will not host world hunger conference
Fearful of havoc on the streets, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi announced Friday that Rome will not host a huge world hunger conference scheduled for November. Instead, the summit will be moved to a city that is easier to protect from violence, he said. The government is still reeling from the images of mob violence and police brutality during globalization protests at July’s Group of Eight summit in Genoa. “We can’t expose Sacred Rome to similar risks,” Mr. Berlusconi said.
