Paraguay high court upholds prison terms for owners in market blaze that killed 420 in 2004

September 30th, 2009 Convicted Paraguay torturers kept earning salariesASUNCION, Paraguay — Three police chiefs imprisoned for torture have finally have been fired after collecting their salaries from behind bars since 1995, Paraguay's interior minister said Tuesday. The former officials are serving 25-year terms in maximum security prison for human rights offenses under the dictatorship of Gen.

September 15th, 2009 Major market burns in Gabon capitalLIBREVILLE, Gabon — Firefighters battled a blaze at the heart of Libreville, Gabon's capital, as fire consumed the nation's largest market. An Associated Press photographer saw security forces including the elite presidential guard rush to try to help firefighters contain the leaping flames at the Mont-Mbout Market.

September 6th, 2009 GUATEMALA CITY - Guatemala's government ministry sacked 37 prison officials for their alleged complicity in allowing weapons, drugs, cash and assorted electrical devices into a prison, authorities have said. The sacking of the officials came after a raid conducted Saturday at the El Boqueron prison, located in the southeastern province of Santa Rosa.

August 15th, 2009 MEXICO CITY - At least 19 prisoners were killed and another 20 wounded during a four-hour prison riot in the northern Mexican state of Durango, officials said Saturday. The fighting started Friday after security was increased at the prison in Gomez Palacio town following the transfer of prisoners from a high-security facility, the state's director for security, Jorge Torres, said.

August 13th, 2009 Argentina convicts ex-general in 1976 killingBUENOS AIRES, Argentina — A retired general and four other members of the military have been convicted and sentenced to long prison terms in the 1976 killing of a communist activist. Retired Gen.

August 7th, 2009 Mexico court to probe day-care fire that killed 49MEXICO CITY — The Supreme Court voted Thursday to open an investigation of alleged irregularities at a day care center where a fire killed 49 children in northern Mexico. The court voted 8-3 to form a two-judge commission that will begin its probe of the June 5 blaze next week.

August 6th, 2009 Paraguay landless try crucifixion to get attentionASUNCION, Paraguay — It's a gruesome tradition in Paraguay that gets results, at least from leftist priest-turned president Fernando Lugo. A half-dozen protesters have hammered long nails through their hands and tied themselves to crosses or laid in coffins in an appeal for land.

July 3rd, 2009 Firefighters tackle blaze at London high-riseLONDON — Firefighters are battling a blaze that has trapped about 30 people in a London high-rise. London Fire Brigade says 18 fire engines and more than 100 firefighters are at the scene of the blaze in Camberwell, south London.

July 3rd, 2009 6 people killed in London high-rise blazeLONDON — Six people, including a 3-week-old baby, were killed and 30 people had to be rescued when fire ripped through a high-rise apartment building in London on Friday, emergency services said. London Fire Brigade said the dead were three adults and three children, who included a 3-week old baby and a 7-year-old.

July 3rd, 2009 2 children killed in blaze at London high-riseLONDON — Two children, including a 3-week-old baby, were killed and some 30 people had to be rescued when fire ripped through a high-rise apartment building in London on Friday, emergency services said. London Fire Brigade said 18 fire engines and more than 100 firefighters were called to the blaze in the Camberwell area of south London at around 4:20 p.m.

June 24th, 2009 Paraguay woman says Lugo raped her in '01ASUNCION, Paraguay — A woman who claims that Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo is the father of her son on Tuesday accused the former Roman Catholic bishop of raping her in their first sexual encounter. Lugo declined to address the allegation against him in detail, but said in a news conference that it is all "part of the second chapter of the novel, I am waiting for the third." "The matter is in the courts and you should talk to my attorney," he said.

April 30th, 2009 Polish official: 23 dead in Polish shelter blazeWARSAW, Poland — Polish prosecutors are raising the death toll from a fire that ripped through a homeless shelter in mid-April to 23 after DNA tests on the victims. Malgorzata Wojciechowicz, a spokeswoman for prosecutors in Szczecin, said Thursday that 23 people were killed in the blaze, including 13 children.

April 26th, 2009 Prison fire kills 10 inmates near Chilean capitalSANTIAGO, Chile — A fire touched off by brawling inmates swept through a Chilean prison Sunday, killing 10 prisoners, officials said. A cooking stove overturned during the fight sparked the blaze, according to Corrections Service director Alejandro Jimenez.

April 23rd, 2009 Correction: Paraguay-Presidential Paternity storyASUNCION, Paraguay — In an April 20 story about paternity claims against Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo, The Associated Press erroneously reported the name of a 6-year-old boy he allegedly fathered. He is named Lucas Fernando, not Fernando Lucas.

April 23rd, 2009 Illegitimate son of Paraguay president adopts nameASUNCION, Paraguay — A 2-year-old boy that Paraguayan bishop-turned-President Fernando Lugo fathered with a former parishioner is adopting his dad's name. Judge Judith Gauto says she accepted the president's request to rename the child Guillermo Fernando Lugo Carrillo.