Court rules against test for migrants

A Dutch court punched a hole in toughened immigration law, ruling an illiterate Moroccan woman cannot be required to pass a Dutch-language test to join her husband in the Netherlands.

The order dismayed politicians who have sought to curb immigration from non-Western countries, and they vowed to change the law to cover a loophole exposed by the Amsterdam District Court.

The ruling was applauded by rights activists who say the government should scrap the requirement, which they say is discriminatory and violates international human rights law.

Hurricanes likely to remain at sea

Tropical Storm Fausto became a hurricane far off Mexico’s Pacific coast, while Bertha strengthened back into a hurricane in the open Atlantic.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said neither storm was expected to threaten land.

Tropical Storm Elida, also far off Mexico’s Pacific coast, was likewise expected to stay in the open sea.

Bertha battered Bermuda this week, knocking out electricity to thousands.

According to the U.S. hurricane center, Bertha is the longest-lived July tropical storm in history.

Hurricane Fausto was centered about 435 miles southwest of Manzanillo.

2 French aid workers abducted

Two French humanitarian aid workers were kidnapped at gunpoint and spirited out of the house where they were sleeping, the Paris-based aid group Action Against Hunger and the French Foreign Ministry said.

The two aid workers are believed to be alive, the group said in a statement.

The workers were abducted when kidnappers burst into their house in Nili, in the central Afghan province of Daikundi, and bundled them into waiting vehicles, Action Against Hunger said.

The kidnappers had tied up guards posted outside the house.

Uribe drops plan to redo election

President Alvaro Uribe has scrapped his plan to rerun the 2006 election in which he was reelected, the government said, a move that could set the stage for him to seek a third term in 2010.

Uribe said last month that he would try to repeat the vote after the Supreme Court ruled that the constitutional amendment that allowed him to run for and win a second term was tainted by corruption.

He has now dropped that plan.

Uribe’s popularity shot up to 91% after this month’s dramatic rescue of 15 rebel-held hostages, including French- Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt.

8 drug suspects die in shootout

At least eight alleged drug traffickers were killed during a raid in a Rio de Janeiro shantytown, police said.

A state police spokeswoman said officers were met by gunfire when they arrived at the Minha Deusa slum.

The agents seized drugs, rifles, grenades and ammunition, she said.

Rio is one of the world’s most violent cities and the site of frequent shootouts between police and drug gangs.

From Times Wire Reports