Group seeks tough child-porn laws

Rio de Janeiro

Group seeks tough child-porn laws

The viewing and procurement of child pornography, including online images of the sexual abuse of children, should be made illegal in all nations, according to a declaration issued at an international congress in Rio de Janeiro.

The declaration, worked out at the third World Congress against Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents, states the viewing and obtaining of such material should be criminalized — in addition to its production, distribution and possession. It also says explicit comic strips and cartoons should be regulated.

About 3,000 representatives of 140 national governments, international bodies and nongovernmental organizations attended the four-day congress that ended Friday.

Gaza City

Pilgrims prevented from leaving Gaza

Hamas police set up checkpoints across Gaza on Saturday to prevent pilgrims from leaving for a holy Muslim ritual in Saudi Arabia, beating some who tried to dodge barriers, witnesses said.

The Islamic militants who rule Gaza were upset that the pilgrims coordinated their journey with Hamas' rival, the Palestinian Authority. The authority, based in the West Bank, is run by Hamas' bitter rival, the Fatah movement. The crackdown on the pilgrims highlights the depth of the bitterness between the two groups.

Egypt criticized Hamas' actions as unbecoming of an Islamic movement.

Hobart, Australia

Whales stranded on rocky coast

Officials rushed today to reach about 80 whales stranded on a remote coast in southern Australia.

The group was spotted from the air Saturday on a rocky coastline at Sandy Cape in the northwest of Tasmania state, Rosemary Gales of the Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service said.

Many of the 80 long-finned pilot whales counted appeared to be dead, she said.

Two crews of rescuers were on their way to the region, but were being slowed by the rugged terrain, which also limited the amount of equipment they could carry, Gales said.

Camaguey, Cuba

Raul Castro attends friar's beatification

Thousands of Roman Catholic faithful and even President Raul Castro gathered Saturday for the beatification of a monk known as the "father of the poor" — the first ceremony of its kind on Cuban soil.

The act brings Friar José Olallo Valdes, a member of the Hospitaller Order of St. John of God, to within one step of sainthood. Olallo, who died in 1889 at age 69, earning his nickname by caring for the needy and chronically ill.

Seattle Times news services