LA PAZ, Bolivia
American still held
A two-judge appeals panel on Tuesday refused a plea to immediately release a New York businessman who has been jailed for 18 months without charge despite strong evidence he was fleeced and extorted by corrupt prosecutors. Instead, the two judges sent the money-laundering case of Jacob Ostreicher back to the trial judge, ordering her to reconsider favorable evidence she previously threw out at the urging of a powerful judicial official who is now under arrest.
Mali
Prime minister arrested
Soldiers arrested Mali’s prime minister and forced him to resign before dawn on Tuesday, showing that the military remains the real power in the troubled West African nation despite handing back authority to civilians after a coup in March. The prime minister’s ouster comes as the United Nations considers backing a military intervention in Mali, a once-stable country now in constant turmoil.
Venezuela
Chavez survives surgery
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was recovering after a successful cancer operation in Cuba, his vice president said Tuesday. Vice President Nicolas Maduro said the surgery was both “complex” and successful. Maduro made the announcement on Venezuelan television, flanked by other Chavez aides and military commanders. It was the fourth cancer-related operation that Chavez has undergone since June 2011.
South Korea
North launches rocket
North Korea fired a long-range rocket this morning in its second launch under its new leader, defying warnings from the U.N. and Washington only days before South Korean presidential elections. North Korea declared the launch of a rocket and satellite a success, and state television planned a special broadcast about the launch at noon. South Korean and Japanese officials confirmed that liftoff took place shortly before 10 a.m. Along with the U.S., they had been urging North Korea to refrain from a launch widely seen as a cover for a test of banned ballistic missile technology.
Compiled from wire reports.
