Belgians convict Iranian for bomb plot
ANTWERP, Belgium -- An Iranian official identified as an undercover agent was convicted Thursday of masterminding a thwarted bomb attack against an exiled Iranian opposition group in France in 2018 and sentenced to 20 years in prison by a Belgian court, which rejected his claim of diplomatic immunity.
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Assadollah Assadi, a Vienna-based diplomat detained in Belgium, refused to testify during his trial last year, invoking his diplomatic status. He did not attend Thursday's hearing at the Antwerp courthouse.
Prosecutors had requested the maximum prison sentence of 20 years on charges of attempted terrorist murder and participation in the activities of a terrorist group. Assadi contested all the charges against him. His lawyer, Dimitri De Beco, said it's likely Assadi will decide to appeal the ruling.
Three other defendants also were convicted and received lengthy jail sentences after the court ruled that they belonged to the same network.
During the trial, lawyers for the plaintiffs and representatives of the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq opposition group claimed that the diplomat set up the attack on direct orders from Iran's highest authorities. Tehran has denied having a hand in the plot.
Mexico ex-governor held in torture case
MEXICO CITY -- Mexican authorities arrested a former governor on charges that he had a reporter who investigated his role in a pedophilia ring illegally arrested and tortured, an official said Thursday.
Interior Secretary Olga Sanchez Cordero confirmed the arrest of Mario Marin, ex-governor of Puebla, in Acapulco the previous day. On Thursday, Marin was scheduled to appear before a judge in Cancun.
Marin, of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, governed Puebla from 2005 to 2011. He was a close friend of textile magnate Jose Kamel Nacif, also considered a fugitive.
Journalist Lydia Cacho had reported on Marin's role as political protector of the pedophilia ring and published a book in early 2005. In December 2005, Marin sent police to arrest Cacho in Cancun and drive her to Puebla. During that 20-hour drive she was tortured.
For years, Marin moved freely in public despite Cacho's allegations. In 2019, a judge in Quintana Roo state issued a warrant for his arrest.
Australian reports 'very warm' Biden call
CANBERRA, Australia -- Australia's prime minister said he invited President Joe Biden to visit in September during a "very warm and engaging" phone call Thursday between the two leaders.
"He sees the Australia-U.S. relationship as providing the anchor for peace and security in our region," Prime Minister Scott Morrison said. "And that is true. We share that view. In terms of our relations between Australia and the United States, there's nothing to fix there, only things to build on."
The White House later said Biden described Australia as an anchor of stability in the "Indo-Pacific and the world."
"They also agreed to work together, alongside other allies and partners, to hold to account those responsible for the coup in Burma," the White House statement said, referring to the country also known as Myanmar.
Morrison invited Biden to visit Australia to mark the 70th anniversary of the ANZUS Treaty, a defense agreement that once included New Zealand and was signed on Sept. 1, 1950.
Morrison said Biden reacted positively to the invitation.
"He told me he needs no special reason to come to Australia, he loves the place," Morrison said. "But [Biden and first lady Jill Biden] would very much like to be in Australia at some point, and we'll see how that progresses."
Lebanese critic of Hezbollah shot dead
ADDOUSSIEH, Lebanon -- A prominent Lebanese publisher and vocal critic of the Shiite militant Hezbollah group was found shot dead in his car Thursday morning, a brazen killing that sparked fears of a return to political violence in the country that's gripped by social and economic upheaval.
The body of 58-year-old Lokman Slim, a longtime Shiite political activist and researcher, was slumped over on the passenger seat suffering wounds from gunshots fired at close range, security and forensic officials said.
He had been missing since late Wednesday and his family posted social media messages looking for him.
To his friends, Slim was a fearless critic of Lebanon's powerful politicians, Hezbollah and its allies Iran and Syria, and a major resource on the history of Lebanon's civil war. His killing raised fears that Lebanon's political tensions could turn into a new wave of assassinations.
Critics, however, accused Slim of sowing sedition, undermining national unity and being a Zionist because of his criticisms of Hezbollah.
Hezbollah condemned Slim's killing, calling for a swift investigation. It also urged security agencies to combat crimes it said have spread around Lebanon and which have been "exploited politically and by the media at the expense of security and domestic stability" -- a jab at their critics.