Sudan’s al-Bashir gets 2 years in corruption case

KHARTOUM, Sudan — A court in Sudan convicted former President Omar alBashir of money laundering and corruption Saturday, sentencing him to two years in a minimum security lockup.

That’s the first verdict in a series of legal proceedings against al-Bashir, who is also wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes and genocide linked to the Darfur conflict in the 2000s.

The verdict comes a year after Sudanese protesters erupted in revolt against al-Bashir’s authoritarian rule.

During his three decades in power, Sudan landed on the U.S. list for sponsoring terrorism.

Al-Bashir has been in custody since April, when Sudan’s military ousted him after months of nationwide protests. The uprising eventually forced the military into a power-sharing agreement with civilians.

In New Zealand: Specialist teams were due to return to New Zealand’s volcanic White Island on Sunday to resume a land search for the bodies of two victims of an eruption that has now claimed 15 lives.

Two four-person teams wearing protective clothing and using breathing apparatuses were to land on the island by helicopter early morning in the hope of finding the bodies which have not been located since the island erupted Dec. 9.

While scientists said the possibility of a second eruption appeared to have receded, White Island remains “highly volatile.”

Police said the toll from the eruption has risen to 15 with the death in hospital on Saturday night of a severely burned victim.