In the World

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - The nation's Supreme Court yesterday ruled out prison for marijuana possession, saying the government should go after major traffickers and provide treatment instead of jail for consumers of marijuana.

Ruling in a case involving several young men caught with marijuana cigarettes in their pockets, the judges struck down a law providing for up to two years in prison for possession of small amounts of drugs.

The decision doesn't legalize drug possession outright. But Argentina's cabinet chief favors keeping drug addicts out of the justice system, and was waiting for the ruling before forwarding a proposed law to Congress.

The seven judges said they were unanimous in "declaring the unconstitutionality of prison for private consumption." - AP

ROME - Police said they have made Capri's Blue Grotto off-limits to tourists after its waters started smelling bad.

The closure was ordered a week after police discovered that raw cesspool sewage was being dumped into the cave's deep blue waters.

Health and environmental authorities were investigating yesterday to see if the stink and an unexplained white foam might have been caused by the cesspool dumping in mid-August.

Police have arrested two men who were found allegedly using a hose to pump contents of some of the island's cesspools directly into the waters. Seeing the inside of the grotto by rowboat is a popular tourist attraction on Capri, a picturesque island off Naples. - AP

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - A small amount of mercury was found spilled inside a passenger's suitcase at Puerto Rico's main airport yesterday and authorities closed three terminals as a precaution, delaying about a dozen flights.

The terminals were closed and the air-conditioning system was shut off out of concern for dangerous fumes, said Alvaro Pilar, director of the U.S. Caribbean territory's port authority.

The passenger who packed the mercury in his suitcase said it was for his brother, a dentist in the Dominican Republic, regional police chief Jose Caldero said. The passenger was carrying about 20 pounds of mercury, which was detected during a security inspection, and only a small amount spilled, he said.

The 52-year-old Dominican man, identified by police as Pedro Rafael de Pena de La Cruz, was being held for questioning but had not been charged. - AP

A suicide bombing in Chechnya killed four police officers yesterday, authorities in the restive Russian region said.

Voters are turning away from Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party in virtually every district, and the opposition is on track to win in a landslide when elections are held Sunday, Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano, acknowledged to reporters yesterday.