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RUSSIA

Military chief warns of nuclear war risks

MOSCOW | Russia is facing a heightened risk of being drawn into conflicts at its borders that have the potential of turning nuclear, the nation’s top military officer said Thursday.

Gen. Nikolai Makarov, chief of the General Staff of the Russian armed forces, cautioned about NATO’s expansion eastward and warned that the risks for Russia to be pulled into local conflicts have “risen sharply.”

Gen. Makarov added, according to Russian news agencies, that “under certain conditions local and regional conflicts may develop into a full-scale war involving nuclear weapons.”

A steady decline in Russia’s conventional forces has prompted the Kremlin to rely increasingly on its nuclear deterrent.

The nation’s military doctrine says it can use nuclear weapons to counter a nuclear attack on Russia or an ally, or a large-scale conventional attack that threatens Russia’s existence.

Russia sees NATO’s expansion to include former Soviet republics and former members of the Soviet bloc in Eastern and Central Europe as a key threat to Russia’s security.

PORTUGAL

Court won’t send fugitive to U.S.

LISBON | A Lisbon court has denied a U.S. request for the extradition of captured American fugitive George Wright, his lawyer said Thursday.

The U.S. wants Wright returned to serve the rest of his 15- to 30-year jail sentence for a 1962 killing in New Jersey. Wright was captured in Portugal in September after more than four decades on the run.

Wright’s lawyer, Manuel Luis Ferreira, told the Associated Press by telephone that the court rejected the U.S. bid.

Mr. Ferreira said the judge accepted his arguments that Wright is now Portuguese and that the statute of limitations on the killing had expired.

He declined to provide further details, saying he would speak to the media later in the day. Court officials couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

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