World briefs: Drug lord held in agent's death
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WASHINGTON -- A reputed Mexican drug cartel leader was charged in the ambush slaying earlier this year of a U.S. immigration officer in Mexico.
Julian Zapata Espinoza, an alleged chief with the Zetas cartel, pleaded not guilty in a brief court appearance Wednesday in the murder of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Special Agent Jaime Zapata last Feb. 15. He and another agent, who was wounded, were ambushed in their car by a convoy of vehicles in the Mexican state of San Luis Potosi.
The 30-year-old Zapata Espinoza, also known as "El Piolin," or "Tweety Bird," was arrested by Mexican officials a week after the slaying, and authorities in that country identified him as the director of a Zeta assassination cell who confessed to the slaying.
TOKYO -- Decommissioning the wrecked reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant will take 40 years and require the use of robots to remove melted fuel that appears to be stuck to the bottom of the reactors' containment vessels, the Japanese government said Wednesday.
The predictions were contained in a detailed roadmap for fully shutting down the three reactors, which suffered meltdowns after an earthquake and tsunami struck the plant March 11.
The government had previously predicted it would take 30 years to clean up after the accident at Fukushima, the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986.
ALMAY, Kazakhstan -- Kazakh officials Wednesday gave striking oil workers one week to accept job offers arranged by the government in a bid to subdue the worst unrest since the former Soviet republic won independence two decades ago.
Deputy Prime Minister Umirzak Shukeyev met with protesters in the regional capital of Aktau. Companies both in the region and nationwide are ready to provide jobs for fired oil workers, said Mr. Shukeyev, head of a commission formed after riots in the country's biggest oil-producing province. Prior to that, Aktau's government will provide them with "paid public work."
Oil workers at state-owned KazMunaiGaz National Co. units have been striking since May over wages.
KABUL, Afghanistan -- A roadside bomb shattered an armored vehicle in a NATO convoy in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing five Polish soldiers -- the deadliest single attack on Poland's military in the war-torn country.
The Taliban immediately claimed responsibility for the attack in a text message to journalists.
Poland is in the process of withdrawing some 100 out of the 2,600 troops it has in Afghanistan.
So far this year, 532 NATO service members have been killed in Afghanistan.
MADRID -- Spaniards impoverished by the economic crisis are pinning their hopes on the world's biggest lottery, which will shower prizes worth a total of $3.3 billion today
The Christmas lottery, which will mark its 200th anniversary next year, is best known for its jackpot -- El Gordo or "The Fat One."
This year's lottery will award 180 El Gordo prizes worth $5.2 million each, $1 million more than in 2010.
It is rare for anyone to win the entire jackpot, since few people can afford an entire ticket costing $260. Most people purchase one-tenth of a ticket for $26.
-- Compiled from news services
First Published December 22, 2011 12:00 am
