2 die in car bombing of Somali hospital
MOGADISHU, Somalia — A bomb hidden in a doctor’s car exploded in a hospital parking lot in the Somali capital Wednesday, killing the doctor and a nurse, officials said.
The explosion happened at Keysaney Hospital, a facility run by the Somali Red Crescent Society and the International Committee of the Red Cross. The explosion sent shockwaves through the hospital, and one patient waiting for an operation was wounded by bomb blast shrapnel, said nurse Mohamed Omar, who provided the death toll.
The remotely detonated bomb exploded as the doctor was leaving after a night shift at the 65-bed surgical referral hospital, which opened in 1992.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. The al-Qaida-linked militant group al-Shabab has been responsible for a lot of bloodshed in Somalia, but it rarely attacks health facilities. The hospital was hit by mortar fire in 2012, with no causalities reported.
The hospital treated nearly 2,000 patients with war wounds at the height of violence in the capital in 2011, according to the Red Cross.
Japan now bans child-porn ownership
TOKYO — Japan’s parliament has passed a law which bans possession of child pornography, but excludes sexually explicit depictions of children in comics, animation and computer graphics.
The upper house voted Wednesday to approve the legislation, which amends an earlier law that banned production and distribution of child pornography but not ownership of such materials.
Japan is the last major industrial country to criminalize possession of child pornography, and had long faced calls to crack down on the loophole.
The law provides for prison terms of up to one year and fines of up to $9,800 for having pornographic photographs or videos of children. It allows a grace period of one year for people owning such materials to dispose of them.
Child advocates and other critics of the new legislation say it is a long-overdue improvement but are unhappy with the exclusion of depictions of sexual fantasies involving children in comic books, anime and video games.
Prince formally takes crown in Spain
MADRID — Crown Prince Felipe ascended to the Spanish throne Wednesday at midnight Spain time, but the economic crisis that has left a quarter of Spaniards out of work prompted Europe’s newest king to be relatively frugal at his proclamation.
Felipe’s father, 76-year-old Juan Carlos, on Wednesday signed legislation, approved by Parliament earlier this month, setting out the legal framework for the hand-over. The retiring monarch, who underwent a hip replacement in November, used a walking cane and moved with difficulty during the televised signing ceremony.
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy immediately ratified the law, which went into force at midnight.
Felipe is to be formally proclaimed monarch and swear an oath at a ceremony with lawmakers in Parliament today. It will be a no-frills event, though the 18th-century Spanish crown and 17th-century scepter will be on display.
After a brief military parade, King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia will take a drive through expected crowds along some of Madrid’s most emblematic streets and monuments — such as the Prado Museum and the Cibeles fountain.
The palace acknowledged that the customary pomp for the events Wednesday and today had been eliminated “in keeping with the criteria of austerity that the times recommend.”
Turkey convicts 2 leaders of 1980 coup
ANKARA, Turkey — A Turkish court on Wednesday convicted the only two surviving leaders of the country’s 1980 military coup of crimes against the state and sentenced them to life imprisonment.
Kenan Evren, 97, the military chief of staff who led the takeover and went on to serve as president until 1989, and Tahsin Sahinkaya, the former air force chief, 89, had been on trial since 2012. They are the first coup leaders to be prosecuted in the country, where the military has overthrown three governments since the 1960s and pressured an Islamic-led government to quit in 1997.
The 1980 military takeover stopped deadly fighting between political extremists but also led to a wave of executions, torture and disappearances.
The two men — who did not attend the trial because of ill health and testified by video link from their hospital beds — will immediately appeal the verdict, their lawyer, Burak Baskale, said.
Their prosecution was made possible after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government, intent on burying the military influence in Turkish politics, secured constitutional amendments in 2010 to revoke their immunity.
A Section on 06/19/2014