3 Iraqis convicted in Allawi plot

Three Iraqis were convicted and sentenced to prison for plotting to kill then-Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi during his visit to Germany in 2004.

The Stuttgart state court convicted the three of attempted participation in murder and membership in the terrorist organization Ansar al Islam, a radical Islamic group linked to Al Qaeda.

Ringleader Ata Abdoulaziz Rashid received a 10-year sentence. Codefendants Rafik Mohamad Yousef and Mazen Ali Hussein, also known as Mazen Salah Mohammed, were sentenced to eight and 7 1/2 years, respectively. Prosecutors said the three planned to attack Allawi at a business forum at a bank in downtown Berlin.

Blair cancels trip after warning

Mideast envoy Tony Blair called off what would have been the first visit of a top Western diplomat to Hamas-ruled Gaza after Israel’s Shin Bet security service said he might come under attack there.

Shin Bet said it had received “pinpoint information that Palestinians were planning to attack former British Prime Minister Blair in Gaza, so the relevant services alerted him.”

Blair’s visit was to have included a tour of a Gaza wastewater project and meetings with traders and United Nations officials, but not with leaders of Hamas, the Islamic militant group that seized Gaza by force in June 2007.

Man sentenced for harassment

A Chinese man has been given five months in detention for kissing a colleague against her will, a local newspaper said today, the first time punishment has been meted out under a new sexual harassment law.

The man, a manager surnamed Liu, invited one of his new female staffers into his office in Sichuan province to “discuss work matters,” but then told her that he wanted to be her boyfriend, the Beijing News said, citing a local newspaper.

When the woman turned Liu down, he turned off the lights, held her by the neck and kissed her, the report said.

Liu was found guilty of “using force to act indecently toward a woman,” it added.

Most shops must close on Sundays

The Croatian parliament has passed a law forcing shops to close on Sundays in a concession to the Roman Catholic Church.

The church has campaigned for years for Sundays to be devoted to family or Mass in Croatia, which is almost 90% Roman Catholic. But Croatians have begun spending weekends in shopping malls that have flourished across the country in the last few years and remain open seven days a week.

The law takes effect Jan. 1. It allows Sunday shopping over the summer and Christmas holidays.

The law also allows stores in gas, bus and train stations to open on Sundays year-round, along with those in hospitals.

Bakeries, newsstands and flower shops are also exempt from the ban.

From Times Wire Reports