World datelines

Russia: Human rights

MOSCOW — Hundreds of people urged Russian authorities to find and punish the killers of journalists and human rights activists in Russia, rallying Wednesday to mark the third anniversary of the killing of Anna Politkovskaya.

"The authorities are incapable of solving such crimes," said Mikhail Kasyanov, a former prime minister and now a leader of the opposition. "Even the most honest investigator cannot solve the crime because the government won't let him."

Politkovskaya, an internationally known journalist, was a harsh critic of the Kremlin and exposed widespread human-rights abuses and corruption in Chechnya. Prosecutors have said little about who might have ordered the contract-style killing on Oct. 7, 2006.

Colombia: Prison break

BOGOTA — Machine gun-firing rebels on motorbikes attacked a prison Wednesday, springing a guerrilla commander charged with kidnapping two journalists on assignment for the Los Angeles Times.

One guard was killed and another suffered multiple gunshot wounds in the daring midday raid, which ended with rebel chief Gustavo Anibal Giraldo fleeing on the back of a motorcycle, authorities said. A drug-sniffing police dog also was killed.

Italy: No immunity

ROME — Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi vowed to stay on and "go forward" Wednesday after an Italian court struck down a law granting him immunity from prosecution and allowed trials for corruption and tax fraud to resume in Milan. There were immediate calls for his resignation.

The decision by the Constitutional Court dealt Berlusconi one of the most serious blows in his 15-year-long battle with the Italian judiciary. It handed prosecutors another chance to ask for his conviction and added to a list of problems that already includes a headline-grabbing sex scandal.

The billionaire businessman-turned-politician dismissed any suggestion of resignation.

Japan: Typhoon hits

TOKYO — A powerful typhoon slammed into Japan on Thursday, causing widespread damage and flooding as it swept across the country. One man died and several were reported injured from the storm.