Macedonia: Factions agree on restructuring police forces
Macedonia’s rival factions made a breakthrough in peace efforts Sunday, agreeing on a plan to restructure the country’s police forces, a top European Union official mediating the talks said. The deal appeared to remove a major barrier to an overall peace plan in the troubled Balkan country. Disputes about the police have stalled talks between majority Macedonians and ethnic Albanian leaders for days.
Colombia: Ex-general released; court says arrest flawed
Colombian authorities on Sunday freed a retired general with alleged links to right-wing death squads after a court found legal flaws in the investigation and his arrest. Former Gen. Rito Alejo del Rio was at his home in the capital, Bogota, after being released from the army base where he was being held.
Russia: Freed American, father reunite in Moscow
The father of American Fulbright scholar John Tobin was reunited Sunday with his son, who had been jailed since January on drug charges in a case that became an irritant in U.S.-Russian relations. Mr. Tobin, released Friday on parole from a prison in southern Russia, was in Moscow to try to get an exit visa. “He sounded very good” over the telephone, John Tobin Sr. said before meeting with his son. “He’s very happy to be out. He seems elated.” The younger Mr. Tobin has declined to speak publicly since his release, possibly reflecting concern that any comment on the touchy case could affect his prospects of leaving Russia.
China: Grudges blamed in blast that killed 69
An unemployed man who bore grudges against his neighbors deliberately set off a massive explosion in northern China last month that killed at least 69 people, the official Xinhua News Agency said Sunday. The July 16 pre-dawn blast flattened the village of Mafang in Shaanxi province. Police initially blamed the blast on a man who moved the explosives to his brother’s house in the village after safety inspectors shut down his illegal explosives factory in April. But on Sunday, Xinhua said a different man, Ma Hongqing, deliberately set the blast to seek revenge on fellow villagers with whom he had “long-existing conflicts.”
