World scene

GERMANY

U.S. Army soldier gets life for murder

VILSECK | A U.S. Army soldier convicted of murder in the 2007 killings of four bound and blindfolded Iraqis was sentenced on Thursday to life in prison.

Master Sgt. John Hatley, 40, will also have his rank reduced to private, forfeit all pay and receive a dishonorable discharge, a jury of eight Army officers and noncommissioned officers decided. He has the possibility of parole after serving 20 years.

Hatley and his wife, who sat behind him in the public gallery, both showed no emotion when the sentence was read. He declined to speak to reporters afterward.

Hatley was found guilty Wednesday of premeditated murder and conspiracy in the execution-style killings of the detainees.

RUSSIA

Medvedev says freedom needed

MOSCOW | President Dmitry Medvedev says Russia needs stronger political competition and a greater freedom to protest.

Mr. Medvedev’s statement has signaled his readiness to revise some of the policies of his predecessor and mentor Vladimir Putin. Mr. Putin, who is now prime minister, rolled back Russia’s post-Soviet freedoms during his eight years as president.

Mr. Medvedev told civil society activists in remarks posted on the Kremlin Web site Thursday that many officials see nongovernmental organizations such as human rights groups as a threat.

During Wednesday’s meeting he called that wrong and dangerous.

IRAN

Journalist verdict looms, U.S. told

The United States said Thursday that Tehran had formally informed Washington via Swiss interlocutors that an Iranian-American journalist was put on trial this week and a verdict would be given soon in the case.

State Department spokesman Robert Wood repeated the U.S. view that spying charges against 31-year-old Roxana Saberi were “baseless and without foundation” and he demanded her release.

Mr. Wood raised questions about the transparency of Iran’s judicial system and said the United States was in “regular contact” with Swiss diplomats over Ms. Saberi.

The freelance Iranian-American journalist has reported for National Public Radio and the British Broadcasting Corp.

SUDAN

Kerry negotiates aid groups’ return

KHARTOUM | Sudan has told the United States it will allow some aid back into its Darfur region, Sen. John Kerry told reporters on Thursday.

“Thanks to the leadership of the president’s special envoy, General Scott Gration, and thanks to the willingness of the government here to engage in a new dialogue with us, some of that capacity for humanitarian assistance will be restored,” the Massachusetts Democrat told reporters after meeting senior members of the Sudanese government.

But Mr. Kerry, who heads the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said more needs to be done.

“Time is of the essence to avert a humanitarian catastrophe,” he said.

BOLIVIA

Police: Plot to kill president thwarted

LA PAZ | Bolivian police say they broke an armed international group Thursday that was plotting to assassinate President Evo Morales and the vice president.

Three suspects were killed and two were arrested in a half-hour long shootout with officers in the eastern city of Santa Cruz, police said. The area is the center of political opposition to Mr. Morales.

Police confiscated explosives, high-caliber weapons and plans to follow the president’s motorcade, police Cmdr. Victor Hugo Escobar said in a news conference.

They included C-4 explosives “that don’t exist in Bolivia,” Vice President Alvaro Garcia said.

From wire dispatches and staff reports