A roundup of today's other world news in brief:
Church leaders investigated over cover-up
LOS ANGELES– Cardinal Roger Mahony and the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles are being investigated by federal authorities over accusations of covering up the sexual abuse of minors by priests.
The inquiry is being conducted by the US attorney's office in Los Angeles through a federal grand jury, according to the Los Angeles Timesand Wall Street Journal. If Cardinal Mahony were charged he would be one of the highest-ranking Catholic church officials to face prosecution in US clergy sex scandals.
A spokesman for the Attorney’s office, Thom Mrozek, declined to comment on the reports.
– (Reuters)
Three Iraqi candidates killed
BAGHDAD– Gunmen killed three Iraqi candidates in separate incidents yesterday, two days before Iraq holds provincial polls that will test the country's fragile democracy.
Hazem Salem Ahmed, a Sunni Arab candidate from the National Unity List, was shot outside his home in Mosul, where minority Kurds and Sunnis are facing off and where al-Qaeda and other insurgents have made a last stand.
In Baghdad’s Amiriya district, gunmen killed candidate Omar Faruq al-Ani, a member of the Iraqi Islamic Party, near his home after a campaign rally.
Candidate Abbas Farhan from the National Movement of Reform and Development was gunned down near the town of Mandili in Diyala Province.
– (Reuters)
Court to hear Lisbon cases
BERLIN– Germany's constitutional court is to consider all challenges to the Lisbon Treaty at hearings next month, including a fourth case lodged just last week, writes Derek Scally.
The court has asked for the final stage of ratification of the treaty Bill, passed by the both houses of parliament last year, to be postponed pending its ruling, expected in the summer.
Somali pirates hijack tanker
NAIROBI– Somali pirates hijacked a German-owned tanker carrying liquefied petroleum gas yesterday, the first ship seized in the Gulf of Aden in nearly four weeks.
A decline in the rate of successful attacks since foreign navies rushed to the busy sea lane has raised optimism among shippers that the menace was being curbed, but pirates have been seeking ways to evade the warships.
The Longchampwas hijacked with a crew of 12 Filipinos and one Indonesian as it was headed from Europe to the Far East.
– (Reuters)
Woman attacked for implants
LOS ANGELES– A jilted boyfriend ambushed his ex and tried to cut out the breast implants he had paid for.
California prosecutor David Foy said Thomas Lee Rowley (28) attacked the 26-year-old woman outside her mother’s home in Hesperia, in the Mojave Desert.
She survived six stab wounds and her punctured breast implants were repaired.
Rowley is now on trial for attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, stalking, burglary, and false imprisonment. Rowley’s former roommate Dennis McGill gave evidence this week that the defendant wanted to reclaim what was rightfully his.
– (AP)