In the World
Detained hikers' families have plea
Striving to boost the spirits of the three American hikers detained in Iran since July 31, their families yesterday urged well-wishers to write the hikers messages of support for onward delivery to Evin Prison in Tehran.Joshua Fattal, 27, Shane Bauer, 27, and Sarah Shourd, 31, were hiking in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq when they apparently strayed into Iran and were arrested. Except for two visits from Swiss diplomats (who represent American interests in Iran), the three have been held mostly in isolation, although they have received some mail.
"It is vital for them to know they are getting support," said Fattal's mother, Laura Fattal, of Elkins Park.
The families have asked that messages be written on postcards and mailed in envelopes to: Free The Hikers, P.O. Box 15065, Duluth, Minn. 55815. - Michael Matza
Argentine judge lets gays marry
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - Two men were granted a marriage license in Argentina's capital yesterday, breaking ground in a heavily Roman Catholic country and region where laws ban gay marriage.Jose Maria Di Bello, 41, and his partner, Alex Freyre, 39, won the right to get married when a judge ruled last week that the ban on gay marriage violated Argentina's constitution. "On Dec. 1 we will become man and man," said Di Bello, welling up in tears as a city clerk gave him the paperwork.
Buenos Aires Mayor Mauricio Macri said the city would not appeal - in effect inviting other same-sex couples to pursue their rights in court as well.
Currently no country in Latin America allows gay marriage, though some jurisdictions allow gay partners to form civil unions with many of the same rights.
- AP
U.S. ends boycott of criminal court
NAIROBI, Kenya - The United States will "return to engagement" with the International Criminal Court in the Hague, resuming its observer status, the country's ambassador-at-large for war crimes, Stephen Rapp, said yesterday.The government has decided to return to ICC conferences, which it stopped attending in 2001, he told reporters in Kenya's capital. Rapp will lead the U.S. delegation to the next session, scheduled from tomorrow through Nov. 26 at the Hague.
But Rapp said the United States was likely "years away" from supporting the ratification of statutes that established the international war-crimes court, if it decides to do so at all.
"There remain concerns about the possibility that the United States, upon whom a great deal of the world relies for security, and its service members might be subject to politically inspired prosecutions," he said.
- Bloomberg News
Elsewhere:
A French armored-car driver who vanished with 11.6 million euros ($17.4 million) in cash has turned himself in to authorities in Monaco after 11 days on the run, police in France and Monaco said. Toni Musulin, 40, had become an antihero in France in a time of economic crisis.
The number of tourists visiting Zimbabwe as of August this year more than tripled, to 362,000, a trade official said yesterday, crediting political and economic stability brought by a fragile unity government.
Brazil's president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, said last week's massive blackouts were caused by a short-circuit in a transmission tower.
