World Briefs

ACAPULCO – A strengthening Tropical Storm Andres headed toward Mexico's Pacific coast Monday, prompting emergency preparations for a storm that forecasters said might become a hurricane.

Forecasters said Andres was likely to bring tropical storm force winds ashore between the port cities of Lazaro Cardenas and Manzanillo within a day and the forecast track showed its center might scrape land at minimum hurricane force late Tuesday near picturesque towns such as Barra de Navidad that are home to some American and Canadian expatriates.

The Acapulco city government prepared 120 shelters and warned residents to stay indoors.

Late Sunday night, Andres became the first named storm of the Eastern Pacific hurricane season.

PARIS – French police arrested 25 suspects Monday in connection with last year's multimillion-dollar robbery at Harry Winston jewelers and recovered some of the stolen rings, necklaces and watches.

The robbers, some dressed as women and wearing wigs, had grabbed $118 millions worth of loot December 5 at the store on a fashionable street off the Champs-Elysees.

RUSSIA – A suicide bomber badly wounded a provincial president in Russia's North Caucasus on Monday, an assassination attempt that undermined the Kremlin's claim that it has brought stability to the predominantly Muslim region.

Yunus Bek Yevkurov was the third top official to be wounded or killed in the last three weeks in the area of southern Russia around Chechnya, devastated by two separatist wars in the last 15 years.

Tanzania – A former senior Rwandan government official was sentenced Monday to 30 years in prison by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) over his involvement in the 1994 genocide.

Callixte Kalimanzira, who was head of cabinet at the interior ministry during the massacres, was sentenced on genocide charges by the UN-backed court which sits in the northern Tanzanian town of Arusha.

Kalimanzira was notably investigated over his involvement in killings that took place on April 23 in the southern Butare province.

In April, the court's chief prosecutor had requested a life term against him.