CUBA
100 prisoners now on hunger strike
Lt. Col. Samuel House said Saturday that 100 of 166 prisoners at the U.S. base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have joined a hunger strike. He said 19 are receiving liquid nutrients through a nasal tube to prevent dangerous weight loss. Five of those are at a hospital under observation, but they do not have any life-threatening conditions, he said. Lawyers for the detainees say the military is undercounting the number of hunger strikers.
MEXICO
Prisoner unrest kills at least 11
A battle between groups of prisoners caused at least 11 deaths and 65 injuries on Saturday, officials in the central Mexican state of San Luis Potosi said. The state attorney general’s office said the clash began when a group of inmates, fed up with harassment by other prisoners, used homemade knives and picks to attack their rivals at the La Pila prison in the state capital. Agency spokeswoman Gabriela Gonzalez Chong said nine inmates died at the prison and two more in a hospital.
LIBYA
Bomb explodes at Benghazi police station
An explosion hit a police station in Libya’s eastern city of Benghazi on Saturday, a day after militants killed a pro-government militiaman in an attack further east in the latest violence to hit the country since the government launched a crackdown on armed groups. The explosion at Barka police station came early in the morning, destroying the facade but leaving no causalities, the officials said. It was the second bombing at the site this year. No group claimed responsibility for the attack.
FRANCE
Fair targets gay newlywed market
Lesbian and gay cake toppers, his-and-his wedding bands, flower-themed tuxedo bow ties: Marketing whizzes have held France’s first gay-marriage fair — four days after parliament legalized same-sex wedlock. Wedding planners, photographers and high-end tailors pitched their services at the Paris fair Saturday. A final vote in France’s National Assembly on Tuesday made France the 14th nation to legalize gay marriage. President Francois Hollande is expected to sign the legislation into law soon. Same-sex weddings could begin as soon as June.
CANADA
Workers go on strike at 7 prisons
Employees at seven prisons in Canada’s Alberta province walked off the job to protest the suspension of one of their colleagues who complained about safety issues. The Alberta labor board ruled Saturday that the strike is illegal for two of the detention centers and ordered those workers to return to their posts. It wasn’t immediately clear what would happen at the other facilities involved in the strike, which began Friday. Josh Stewart, a spokesman for the province’s solicitor general, said the labor board would discuss the situation at the other facilities.
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