International News in brief

Bulger case starts

BOSTON:

Lawyers for reputed gangster James 'Whitey' Bulger have kicked off his defence by calling a former FBI supervisor who testified that Bulger told him he was not an FBI informant.

Robert Fitzpatrick of the FBI's Boston office says he was given the task of assessing Bulger to see if he was providing the FBI with useful information on the Mafia.

Fitzpatrick said yesterday that when he met with Bulger in 1981, he repeatedly changed the subject, "played the tough guy", and at one point, denied being an informant.

After that meeting, Fitzpatrick said, he recommended that Bulger be terminated as an FBI informant. But he said that did not happen.

The 83-year-old Bulger is charged with playing a role in 19 killings while he allegedly led the Winter Hill Gang.

105 rescued from child prostitution

WASHINGTON:

Authorities rescued 105 children who were forced into prostitution and arrested 150 pimps and others in a three-day law enforcement sweep in 76 American cities, the FBI said yesterday. The victims, almost all girls, range in age from 13 to 17.

The largest numbers of children rescued were in San Francisco, Detroit, Milwaukee, Denver and New Orleans. The campaign, known as Operation Cross Country, was conducted under the FBI's Innocence Lost initiative.

"Child prostitution remains a persistent threat to children across the country," Ron Hosko, assistant director of the bureau's criminal investigative division, told a press conference.

The FBI said the campaign has resulted in rescuing 2,700 children since 2003.

The investigations and convictions of 1,350 have led to life imprisonment for 10 pimps and the seizure of more than $3.1 million in assets.

Son condemns rapist father

CLEVELAND:

The son of the Cleveland man who admitted kidnapping, raping and enslaving three women for about a decade said yesterday his father belongs in prison for the rest of his life.

In an interview on NBC's Today show, Anthony Castro also said he has nothing to say to his father, Ariel Castro, and will not visit him in prison.

Fifty-three-year-old Ariel Castro is expected to be sentenced Thursday to life in prison plus 1,000 years after pleading guilty last week to 937 counts in a deal that spared him the death penalty.

"I think it's the best possible sentence," Anthony Castro said. "I think if he really can't control his impulses and he really doesn't have any value for human life the way this case has shown, then behind bars is where he belongs for the rest of his life."

Wave of car bombings in central, southern Iraq kills at least 47

BAGHDAD:

A wave of over a dozen car bombings hit central and southern Iraq during morning rush hour on Monday, officials said, killing at least 47 people in the latest coordinated attack by insurgents determined to undermine the government.

The blasts, which wounded scores more, are part of a months-long surge of attacks that is reviving fears of a return to the widespread sectarian bloodshed that pushed the country to the brink of civil war after the 2003 US-led invasion. Suicide attacks, car bombings and other violence have killed more than 3,000 people since April, including more than 500 since the start of July.

French police: Estimated US$53 million in jewels stolen from Cannes hotel

PARIS:

A staggering €40 million worth of diamonds and other jewels was stolen Sunday from the Carlton Intercontinental Hotel in Cannes, in one of Europe's biggest jewellery heists in recent years, police said. One expert noted the crime follows recent jail escapes by members of the notorious 'Pink Panther' jewel thief gang.

The hotel in the sweltering French Riviera was hosting a temporary jewellery exhibit over the summer from the prestigious Leviev diamond house, which is owned by Israeli billionaire Lev Leviev.

A police spokesman said the theft took place around noon, but he could not confirm local media reports that the robber was a single gunman who stuffed a suitcase with the gems before making a swift exit.

Activists launch campaign depicting animal smartness

NEW YORK:

There's extensive evidence that pigs are as smart and sociable as dogs. Yet, one species is afforded affection and respect; the other faces mass slaughter en route to becoming bacon, ham, and pork chops.

Seeking to capitalise on that discrepancy, animal-welfare advocates are launching a campaign called The Someone Project that aims to highlight research depicting pigs, chickens, cows and other farm animals as more intelligent and emotionally complex than commonly believed. The hope is that more people might view these animals with the same empathy that they view dogs, cats, elephants, great apes and dolphins.