News In Brief

AP, Madrid

Spain’s National Court has issued hefty prison sentences for politicians and businesspeople involved in a kickbacks-for-contracts scheme that helped fund the governing party.
Thursday’s decision is a major blow for Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s Popular Party, fined 245,000 euros (US$ 287,000) because it benefited from the illegal scheme, the court said.

Australian sentenced to death in Malaysia

AP, Kuala Lumpur

An Australian woman accused of drug trafficking in Malaysia was sentenced to death after an appeals court on Thursday overturned a lower court’s acquittal, her lawyer said.
Maria Elvira Pinto Exposto was exonerated by the High Court last December on grounds that she didn’t know there were 1.5 kilograms (3.3 pounds) of crystal methamphetamine in her bag when she was arrested in December 2014 at Kuala Lumpur’s international airport. The prosecution appealed.

Four dead in Baghdad cafe bombing

AFP, Baghdad

At least four people were killed and several others wounded when a suicide bomber struck a cafe in Baghdad where people had gathered after breaking their daily Ramadan fast, police said Thursday.
“A suicide bomber blew up his explosive belt while he was surrounded by police near a public garden in Al-Shoala district,” a mainly Shiite northern neighbourhood of the capital, a security forces statement said.

Argentina bldg collapse kills one

AFP, Buenos Aires

At least one man was killed Wednesday when an old theater that was under renovations collapsed in the downtown area of the Argentine city of Tucuman, police said.