Barcelona
Terrorist plotters jailed: A court in Spain handed down prison sentences of up to 14 years to 11 Islamic militants convicted of belonging to a terrorist cell that was plotting a coordinated series of suicide bomb attacks against the Barcelona metro system. The men, 10 from Pakistan and one from India, were all acquitted of actually conspiring to carry out a terrorist attack, because the amount of explosives seized by police was deemed sufficient only for training purposes. Prosecutors alleged that the men had been acting under the orders of the Pakistani Taliban, and that their plan had been to launch the attacks ahead of the 2008 general election, to protest the presence of Spanish troops in Afghanistan. The plot has chilling echoes of the 2004 Madrid bombings, in which 191 people lost their lives.
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Tigers savage trainer: A well-known German animal trainer is in critical condition after being mauled by three Bengal tigers during a celebrity circus event. Christian Walliser, 28, had just begun his act when he stumbled and fell. Three tigers immediately pounced on him and ferociously bit into his head and body. A doctor in the audience managed to stanch the bleeding as Walliser’s colleagues drove off the tigers with water cannons and fire extinguishers. Walliser was rushed to a hospital, where surgeons were forced to amputate his left hand.
Milan
Berlusconi attacked: Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was assaulted after a political rally this week, suffering a broken nose and losing two teeth. Berlusconi had just delivered a speech and was signing autographs when he was allegedly attacked by 42-year-old Massimo Tartaglia, who smashed him across the face with a statuette of the city’s famous Gothic cathedral, the Duomo. Tartaglia was taken into custody by police, who said he has a history of mental-health problems. Most Italian politicians denounced the attack, though Antonio Di Pietro, the leader of the center-left Italy of Values party, said that “it is Berlusconi himself who instigated this.”
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