World Briefs

LONDON – Madonna and Guy Ritchie were granted a preliminary decree of divorce Friday.

Neither appeared at the brief court session in which "Ciccone M L v Ritchie G S" was one of 17 cases given a preliminary decree. After six weeks and a day, the divorce can become final.

The decree said the divorce was granted on the basis of Ritchie's "unreasonable behavior".

The American pop star married the British film director in 2000.

British news media reported, without identifying the sources of their information, that the celebrity couple had reached a settlement that would see the pop superstar keep the majority of her estimated 300 million pound ($445 million) fortune.

Newspaper reports say the couple’s two boys will split their time between Britain and the U.S.

WASILLA, ALASKA – GOV. Sarah Palin has granted the traditional Thanksgiving pardon to one lucky turkey, but the video that shocked some viewers captured what was happening in the background.

As she answered questions Thursday at Triple D Farm & Hatchery outside Wasilla cameras from the Anchorage Daily News and others showed the bloody work of an employee slaughtering birds in the background.

On the video, Palin said: "This was neat. I was happy to get to be invited to participate in this. For one, you need a little bit of levity in this job, especially with so much that has gone in the last couple of months... it's nice to get out and do something to promote a local business and to just participate in something that isn't so heavy handed politics that it invites criticism. Certainly we'll probably invite criticism for even doing this, too, but at least this was fun."

MEXICO CITY – Mexico's former drug czar was accused Friday of taking $450,000 from a powerful cartel, further evidence the country's drug gangs are being protected by the highest levels of government.

Noe Ramirez is the highest-ranking law enforcement official detained yet as part of Mexico's sweeping investigation aimed at weeding out officials who allegedly shared police information with violent drug smugglers. His arrest complicates President Felipe Calderon's nationwide crackdown on the drug trade.

Attorney General Eduardo Medina said Ramirez accepted $450,000 from a member of the Pacific cartel, who offered to pay him monthly for alerting the drug gang to planned police operations. The cartel member, who was not identified, is cooperating with the investigation, Medina said.

Ramirez was named assistant attorney general for organized crime in 2006 when Calderon took office, and resigned in July.

Publicidad