In the World

BELGRADE, Serbia - Thirteen Serbs were convicted of war crimes and sentenced to prison yesterday for the execution-style killings of 200 Croats - one of the worst massacres of POWs during the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s.

Serbia's war-crimes court judges handed the maximum 20-year sentence to seven of the former soldiers. The case was seen as a test of the Serbian judiciary's ability to punish Serbs responsible for atrocities committed during the wars under former President Slobodan Milosevic.

The shooting took place in November 1991 at a pig farm near the eastern Croatian town of Vukovar during Croatia's war for independence.

The Croatian POWs were separated into groups of seven to eight and sprayed with machine-gun fire and their bodies were dumped into a mass grave, the verdict said.

- AP

ST. JOHN'S, Newfoundland - Canadian rescuers searched freezing waters for 16 missing people yesterday after a helicopter heading to Atlantic oil fields reported mechanical problems and ditched in the sea off Newfoundland.

Of the 18 people aboard, one man was rescued and one body was recovered. Officials said the others were missing about 30 miles out at sea. There were no signs of more survivors hours after the 8 a.m. accident, but rescuers were holding out hope since those aboard were believed to be wearing survival suits.

"We'll continue to search until there is absolutely no chance that any survivors may be located," said Maj. Denis McGuire of Halifax's Rescue Coordination Center.

Two life rafts were spotted in the water amid debris from the helicopter that was spread over a six-mile area, but rescuers confirmed they were empty. Survivor Robert Decker was listed in critical but stable condition at a hospital after being pulled from the water by a helicopter.

- AP

RIGA, Latvia - Latvia's parliament approved a new center-right government with Europe's youngest premier yesterday as the economic crisis in this Baltic state deepened.

The 67-21 vote made 37-year-old Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis and his five-party coalition the third government in 15 months in Latvia, which won independence from the Soviet Union only 18 years ago.

Dombrovskis takes over from Prime Minister Ivars Godmanis, whose government resigned three weeks ago amid squabbling triggered by the economic crisis.

The quick plunge of Latvia's export-driven economy made it the second European government after Iceland to disintegrate because of the international financial crisis. - AP

Amsterdam police arrested seven people suspected of preparing an attack, including a relative of one of the attackers who died in the 2004 bombings in Madrid, Spain. Mayor Job Cohen said police were acting on an anonymous tip that warned an Ikea outlet or other stores in the city might be targeted.

The State Department said a Peace Corps worker has been found dead in the West African nation of Benin, and it has sent a security officer to determine if foul play was involved. Spokesman Robert Wood declined to identify the woman pending notification of her family.

A key member of Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's party, arrested by President Robert Mugabe's government on weapons charges the day a unity Mugabe-Tsvangirai cabinet was sworn in, was freed on bail. Roy Bennett is a popular former lawmaker.