World

WARSAW (Reuters) – An Israeli couple ha ve been given suspended jail sentences for the theft of historic artefacts from the former Nazi death camp Auschwitz, Poland’s PAP news agency quoted a prosecutor as saying yesterday.

AMMAN (Reuters) – Syrian security forces shot dead five civilians during funerals which turned into protests against President Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

MIAMI, (Reuters) – A former top Bolivian anti-drug  official pleaded guilty on Thursday to charges of conspiring to  smuggle cocaine into the United States in a case that has  proved a major embarrassment for Bolivia’s President Evo  Morales.

LONDON, (Reuters) – A European plan to raise funds  for clean energy has backfired spectacularly, helping trigger a  rout on its carbon trading scheme and so cutting available green  funds and benefiting polluting coal plants.

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – A cell phone found in the  raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan contained contacts  to a militant group with ties to Pakistan’s intelligence  agency, The New York Times reported on Thursday, citing senior  U.S.

ATHENS/FRANKFURT – Banks and policymakers moved closer to a  deal yesterday to help Athens secure funds ahead of a  parliamentary vote on austerity next week that Greek Prime  Minister George Papandreou must win to avert default.

DAR ES SALAAM,  (Reuters) – The U.N. war crimes  tribunal for Rwanda sentenced former minister Pauline  Nyiramasuhuko to life in prison on Friday, the first time a  woman has been found guilty of genocide by an international  court.

CARACAS,  (Reuters) – Venezuelan President Hugo  Chavez, not seen in public for two weeks, ended his unusual  silence with several Twitter messages yesterday, but said  nothing about his health after an operation in Cuba.

LOS ANGELES, (Reuters) – Peter Falk, star of the  1970s hit TV drama “Columbo,” whose role as the rumpled  detective of the same name earned him four Emmys, has died  after years of battling Alzheimer’s disease.

MEXICO CITY, (Reuters) – Once praised lavishly by  the United States for waging a war on drugs, Mexico’s last two  presidents now say legalizing them may be the best way to end  the rising violence the U.S.-backed

NEW YORK,  (Reuters) – A former Egyptian banker  pleaded guilty in a New York court yesterday to a criminal  charge that he sexually abused a hotel maid and now faces a  multimillion dollar civil suit in connection with the case.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – The U.S. military distanced  itself yesterday from President Barack Obama’s plan for a  faster-than-expected withdrawal of U.S.

MEXICO CITY, (Reuters) – President Felipe Calderon  apologized to victims of Mexico’s war on drugs in an emotional  meeting with bereaved families yesterday that sought to try  and quell rising anger over violence sweeping the nation.

DAKAR, (Reuters) – Senegal President Abdoulaye Wade  backed down on a proposed change to the election rules yesterday, completely withdrawing a bill that sparked violent  clashes between riot police and protesters in the capital.

OSLO,  (Reuters) – Norway backed Indonesia’s drive to  slow deforestation yesterday under a $1 billion deal with Oslo  even though Jakarta said it faced a “maze” of reforms and lacks  maps to pin down exact conservation areas.

AMMAN, (Reuters)  – The United States is concerned by reports  that Syria is massing troops near the border with Turkey, which  could escalate the crisis in the region, and is discussing the  issue with Turkish officials, U.S.

MIAMI, (Reuters) – A former top Bolivian anti-drug  official pleaded guilty yesterday to charges of conspiring to  smuggle cocaine into the United States in a case that has  proved a major embarrassment for Bolivia’s President Evo  Morales.

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – President Barack Obama  announced a plan yesterday to start withdrawing U.S.

MANAMA, (Reuters) – Bahrain sentenced eight  prominent Shi’ite Muslim activists and opposition leaders to  life in prison yesterday on charges of plotting a coup during  protests in the Gulf island kingdom earlier this year.

LOS ANGELES, (Reuters Life!) – “Rhinestone Cowboy”  singer Glen Campbell says he is in the early stages of  Alzheimer’s disease, and has recorded one last album as a  farewell to his fans.