In the World
Iraq vice president sentenced to death
BAGHDAD - Iraq's Sunni vice president, who has been accused of commanding sectarian death squads that are responsible for hundreds of killings, was sentenced to death in absentia on Sunday, hours after a wave of attacks killed more than 50 people across the country.
The sentencing of Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi could deepen an already intractable political crisis in Iraq among Sunnis, Shiites, and Kurds, even as a spate of recent attacks has raised questions about the government's ability to provide security nine months after the withdrawal of U.S. troops.
Hashemi and his son-in-law were found guilty of murdering a lawyer and a security official, a charge small in scope in relation to the other accusations against him. In February, a panel of judges accused him of overseeing paramilitary death squads responsible for carrying out more than 150 attacks over six years against political opponents.
- The New York Times
Egypt's leader to focus on economy
CAIRO - Egypt's Islamist leader vowed to carry out tough structural reforms to overhaul his country's ailing economy and create a better environment for business and investment, participants in a meeting between corporate executives and the president said Sunday.
The move by Mohammed Morsi, who hails from the Muslim Brotherhood, aimed to assuage fears that an Islamist-led economic program could dampen investment, particularly in tourism. Morsi vowed that Egypt would remain a secular state, said Ahmed Ghanim, head of biotech firm Bio Natural America Institute.
Ghanim and two U.S. officials in the meeting also confirmed that Morsi went beyond previous statements he has made about adhering to Egypt's international accords, pledging outright to more than 60 U.S. delegates present that he respects his country's landmark peace treaty with Israel. Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood has a decades-old enmity with Israel.
The face-to-face at Cairo's presidential palace was organized to introduce companies, many of which already have billions of dollars invested in Egypt, to the new president. It is part of a four-day mission to Egypt organized by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. - AP
Greeks protest plans for mine
THESSALONIKI, Greece - Hundreds of protesters battled riot police for hours over plans for a gold mine in northern Greece's Halkidiki peninsula.
Police say protesters threw firebombs at them, setting ablaze a forested area on the site.
Protesters claim a tear-gas grenade thrown by police injured Radical Left Coalition member of parliament Vangelis Diamantopoulos.
This is not the first clash over the gold mine, which has pitted inhabitants of the area against one another.
Owners of tourist lodging are fiercely opposed for environmental reasons while prospective miners claim the project would create thousands of jobs at a difficult time.
Opponents, abetted by leftist activists, succeeded a decade ago in canceling a multimillion-dollar gold mining project in a nearby area.
- AP
