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Two former Argentinian military pilots have been given life sentences for their part in the death of a close friend of Pope Francis, who was hurled to her death from an aircraft during the country’s 1976-83 dictatorship.
The ruling on Wednesday marked the first Argentinian judgment against participants in the so-called “death flights”, in which opponents of Argentina’s military regime were thrown into the freezing waters of the South Atlantic in an attempt to hide the murders.
The court heard that former coastguard pilots Mario Daniel Arrú and Alejandro Domingo D’Agostino were in the crew of the Skyvan PA-51 plane from which Esther Careaga and 11 other people were thrown to their death on the night of 14 December 1977. Careaga was a close friend of Jorge Bergoglio, who decades later became Pope Francis.
The pilots were among the 54 defendants in the huge trial, which also involved the cases of 789 victims of the Navy Mechanics Higher School, ESMA, in Buenos Aires, where up to 5,000 people are estimated to have been killed.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/29/argentina-death-flight-pilots-sentenced-for-deaths-including-popes-friend
It's 09:08 AM in Paris right now!
An explosion has rocked a building in central Paris today causing it to partially collapse and leaving numerous casualties, Paris firefighters said.
It is believed the cause of the blast, which occurred at 9.52am UK time, may have been a gas explosion.
The building is on the Rue d'Uzes, close to the Paris Stock Exchange building and the headquarters of Agence France-Presse, in the second arondissement.
Around 140 firefighters were on the scene to help free victims from the building, which contained offices for businesses including lawyers, accountants and telecommunications firms.
A state of red alert for the emergency services has been declared.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-183447/Explosion-rocks-Paris-building.html