SCOTLAND
Avalanche kills climbers
An avalanche killed four climbers in the Scottish Highlands on Saturday, police said. The victims were in a group of six climbers — three men and three women — who were at Glencoe, one of Scotland’s best-known glens, when a snow slope broke away. The BBC said five of them were swept down the mountain in ice and snow, with four dying and one being saved and hospitalized in serious condition. The sixth climber escaped unharmed and called emergency services, police said.
BULGARIA
Party leader threatened
Bulgarian police detained a man after he pointed a gas pistol at an ethnic Turkish party leader as he was delivering a speech at a party caucus in the capital Saturday. No shots were fired. The video from the event in Sofia shows the man climbing the podium where Ahmed Dogan, the leader of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, was speaking, and pointing the gun. Dogan struck the man before he could pull the trigger, while other delegates wrestled the assailant to the ground.
EGYPT
Protesters throw rocks
Riot police fired tear gas Saturday to disperse dozens of demonstrators throwing rocks outside an Alexandria courthouse where the city’s ex-security director and other officers are on trial for the killing of protesters during Egypt’s 2011 uprising. The confrontation comes a week before the country marks the second anniversary of the revolt that ousted ruler Hosni Mubarak, and highlights the frustration expressed by many over the pace of reform. Alexandria’s former security director Mohammed Ibrahim is on trial along with five other police officers accused of using excessive violence to put down the 18-day revolt.
LIBERIA
Taylor wants pension
Former President Charles Taylor, 64, may be locked up while appealing his 50-year prison sentence for war crimes, but he still wants his country to pay his pension. Taylor, who ran Liberia from 1997 to 2003, wrote Liberia’s Senate seeking at least $25,000 per year in retirement pay he insists he’s owed.
Compiled from wire reports.
