World datelines

VIENNA — Australia, Hungary and Lithuania are failing to investigate and prosecute suspected Nazi war criminals largely due to a lack of political will, the Simon Wiesenthal Center said Thursday.

The Nazi-hunting group said the same holds true for Croatia, Estonia, Latvia and Ukraine, adding all countries in question face no legal obstacles in bringing suspects to justice.

The findings were published in the center's annual report, which graded the investigation and prosecution efforts of countries around the world between April 2007 and March 2008.

Australia was given the worst possible mark — an "F-2"— for its continued failure to extradite Nazi collaborator Charles Zentai, an Australian citizen accused of killing a Jewish teenager in Hungary during World War II.

Belgium: Raids yield arrests

BRUSSELS — Police detained 14 suspected al-Qaida-linked extremists on Thursday in raids in Brussels and eastern Belgium, including one militant who allegedly was plotting a suicide attack.

"There was no other choice than to intervene today," federal prosecutor Johan Delmulle told reporters. He said one suspect had recorded what looked like a martyrdom video, including a farewell message.

Mexico: Crash toll reaches 16

MEXICO CITY — A man who suffered severe burns when a government jet crashed in Mexico City last month has died, apparently raising the crash's toll to 16.

The Health Department says 85-year-old Victor Altamirano left a hospital in late November after his condition improved, but died Thursday.

The department did not give a cause of death or specifically say it was due to the crash. But the agency normally does not issue public reports on deaths from natural causes.

The Nov. 4 crash killed all nine on board, including Interior Secretary Juan Camilo Mourino. Altamirano was among seven on the ground who died.

Investigators say the jet was too close to a Boeing 767-300 and may have lost control because of turbulence from the larger plane.