World in brief

Trial in slaying of Serbian leader is disrupted

BELGRADE, Serbia-Montenegro - The trial in the assassination of Serbia's prime minister descended into turmoil Wednesday when the man accused of pulling the trigger refused to enter a plea and defense attorneys walked out of the courtroom in protest.

Zvezdan Jovanovic, former commander of an elite Serbian police unit who is charged with firing the fatal sniper shot that killed Zoran Djindjic on March 12, said he was framed by pro-Western authorities.

Authorities initially said Jovanovic confessed to the slaying. But his defense attorneys claim he was pressured during the police interrogation and was not told that everything he said could be used against him in court.

Wednesday's courtroom proceedings were cut short when 40 defense lawyers representing the 36 suspects in Djindjic's killing walked out, claiming the three-judge panel is biased and incapable of handling the case.

MADRID, Spain - Spanish police foiled a plot by Basque separatists to detonate two powerful bombs aboard a train at a bustling Madrid railway station, officials said Wednesday.

Two suspected members of the armed separatist group ETA were arrested in towns in the Basque region, Interior Minister Angel Acebes said.

One suspect was carrying a 55-pound bomb in a suitcase when he was arrested in the Basque city of San Sebastian.

Police then learned that a second suspect had placed another 55-pound bomb on a train traveling from San Sebastian to Madrid. Police stopped the train in northern Burgos and evacuated it before defusing the bomb, Acebes said. The man suspected of planting the bomb was arrested near San Sebastian.

WASHINGTON - The State Department on Wednesday announced 60,000 metric tons of American food will be sent to North Korea to help avert hunger.

Spokesman Richard Boucher said the decision was based on reports from the World Food Program's executive director, James Morris, that 4-million North Koreans need contributions. The donation brings the total of U.S. donations for the year to 100,000 tons.

The agency has received only 60 percent of the food needed this year for its goal of feeding 6.5-million North Koreans, Morris said Saturday in Beijing.

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