Santiago

A Chilean Supreme Court judge has ruled that former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori should not be extradited to Peru to face human rights and corruption charges, a court spokesperson said on Wednesday. ”Judge Orlando Alvarez … rejected the extradition request presented by the Peruvian government against Alberto Fujimori.”

Last year, Chilean-born artist Marco Evaristti mixed fat removed from his body by liposuction with ground beef to make meatballs, which he fried in olive oil and displayed in a public gallery. This year, he plans to climb Western Europe’s highest mountain colour the summit pink and declare it an independent state, with himself as president.

A 5,3-magnitude quake was felt in the Chilean capital, Santiago, on Sunday but there were no immediate reports of damage. The quake followed a strong temblor in the country’s south on Saturday that caused power cuts, landslides and large waves off the nation’s Pacific coast.

Former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet was placed under house arrest on Monday in connection with the kidnap of two of his political opponents in 1974, a judicial source said. Pinochet, who ruled Chile with absolute power from 1973 to 1990, is accused of dozens of human rights violations but has never been brought to trial in connection with any of them.

Socialist Michelle Bachelet was sworn in as Chile’s first female president on Saturday and appealed for national unity to heal the divisions left by a military dictatorship that had imprisoned and tortured her and her parents. Bachelet’s election in January marked a sharp political shift in traditionally conservative, male-dominated Chile.

A Chilean judge on Wednesday ordered the arrest of former dictator Augusto Pinochet for fraud and other alleged crimes related to millions of dollars in secret overseas bank accounts. The judge ordered that Pinochet, who will be 90 on Friday, remain confined in his home in Santiago’s elegant La Dehesa neighbourhood.

Fugitive former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori, wanted in Peru on corruption and human rights charges, was arrested early on Monday just hours after his surprise arrival in Chile, police said. Fujimori, who is 67, arrived on Sunday unannounced in Chile to press on defiantly in a fresh bid for the Peruvian presidency.

Chile sent cargo planes with medicine and tents to a northern Andean region rocked by an earthquake that killed at least 11 people, including a family of six buried by a landslide. The quake measured 7,9 on the Richter scale — the world’s third-strongest since the quake that set off the Asian tsunami in December.

A Santiago appeals court on Tuesday lifted the immunity from prosecution of former dictator Augusto Pinochet (89), opening the way for him to be tried for financial fraud after the discovery that he had secret accounts in the United States, court sources said. Pinochet’s defence still can appeal the ruling to Chile’s Supreme Court.

Three days of torrential rains have caused flooding in central and southern Chile, killing at least nine people and forcing 50 000 people from their homes.

Chile somberly marked the memory of those killed 29 years ago in and after General Augusto Pinochet’s military coup that toppled socialist president Salvador Allende and drove him to suicide.