The world in brief

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“That depends on when the patience of those conspiring against Syria will run out.”

Walid al-Moallem, Syria’s foreign minister, after being asked when the country’s civil war will end Article, 1A

6 Croats convicted in Bosnia-war killings

THE HAGUE, Netherlands - A U.N. court convicted six Bosnian Croat political and military leaders Wednesday of persecuting, expelling and murdering Muslims during Bosnia’s war and said leaders in neighboring Croatia helped hatch and execute their plan to carve out a Croat state in Bosnia.

It was the Yugoslav war-crimes tribunal’s most unequivocal statement of Croatia leaders’ involvement in Bosnia’s 1992-95 conflict and followed the acquittals late last year of two Croat generals accused of atrocities against Serbs, a ruling that reinforced many Croats’ view that their country was a victim in the Balkan wars.

A majority of the three-judge panel said the late-Croat President Franjo Tudjman was a key member of a plan to create a Croat ministate in Bosnia with the aim of later uniting it with his country to create a greater Croatia, or leaving it as a separate independent state.

Past rulings by the court have labeled fighting between Muslims and Croats in Bosnia an international armed conflict because of the government involvement, but Wednesday’s ruling explicitly named Tudjman and his former defense minister, Gojko Susak.

Storm, now hurricane, sights on Mexico

OAXACA, Mexico - A storm in the Pacific rose to hurricane strength Wednesday as it steamed toward a sparsely populated stretch of Mexico’s southern Pacific coast, where it was expected to make landfall quickly.

Hurricane Barbara’s wind speeds hit 75 mph, as its center swirled just about 20 miles off the coast, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said. It was moving north-northeast toward land at about 10 mph, toward a sparsely populated stretch of coast.

Officials in the southern state of Oaxaca rushed to prepare emergency shelters and suspended classes for schoolchildren in coastal communities as rain began to lash the coast, flooding some homes.

The area west of the railway town of Arriaga where Barbara was expected to make landfall is a largely undeveloped stretch of coastal lagoons, punctuated by small fishing villages. The major oil port of Coatzacoalcos is on the other side of the narrow waist of Mexico known as the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. But the hurricane center said the storm should weaken rapidly once it hits land, well before reaching Coatzacoalcos.

Mexico issued a hurricane warning for the Pacific coast from Puerto Angel to Barra de Tonala.

Accused again, China denies hacking

BEIJING - China on Wednesday again denied that it has used cyber-attacks to steal American military and business secrets after new accusations leveled this week.

“China opposes all forms of cyber-attacks. China is also a victim of hacking,” said Assistant Foreign Minister Zheng Zeguang during a news briefing previewing Chinese President Xi Jinping’s meeting with President Barack Obama next week.

Zheng noted that China and the United States have agreed to set up a working group to regularly discuss the issue.

The White House has said Obama will raise the issue at next week’s meeting.

The increased scrutiny on China’s cyber-activities comes amid mounting evidence of cyber-intrusions and the theft of proprietary private and government data in the United States. On Tuesday, The Washington Post reported on a confidential report prepared for the Pentagon that revealed cyber-intrusions had breached classified files on more than two dozen major U.S. weapons systems.

Autopsy finds cuts killed U.K. soldier

LONDON - An autopsy shows that a British soldier killed in a suspected Islamic extremist attack in London last week died from multiple cuts and stab wounds after he was hit by a car, police said Wednesday.

Lee Rigby, 25, was first struck by a blue car and then stabbed by two men near his barracks in southeast London’s Woolwich district, police said.

Images that emerged in the attack’s aftermath showed two men wielding bloody knives and meat cleavers. Police said the autopsy showed Rigby died from “multiple incised wounds.”

Both prime suspects were shot and wounded by police at the scene. Suspect Michael Adebolajo, 28, remains hospitalized in stable condition while Michael Adebowale, 22, was discharged from a hospital Tuesday and is in police custody.

A total of 10 people have been arrested in the case, including the two main suspects. Two people were released and several others have been set free on bond pending further inquiries. No charges have been filed yet.

With the cause of death established, police said an inquest on Rigby’s death will open Friday at Southwark Coroner’s Court. In Britain, inquests are conducted to establish the circumstances surrounding unexpected or violent deaths.

Front Section, Pages 6 on 05/30/2013

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