Low-level delegations from Russia and Ukraine held their

. They came from Rabinal, a small town about 55 miles (88 kms) north of the capital.Six of them testified against the three men convicted Friday.

As the all female three judge panel prepared to announce the verdict, several elderly women huddled around a young woman who translated the judges’ words from Spanish to Achi.Judge María Eugenia Castellanos, president of the tribunal, said the women had been brave to come on repeated occasions to testify. “They are crimes of solitude that stigmatize the woman. It is not easy to speak of them,” she said.Judge Marling Mayela González Arrivillaga said there was no doubt about the women’s testimony.

In 2022, five other paramilitaries – men from the area trained by soldiers to help root out insurgents – were convicted of raping women and sentenced to 30 years in prison. No soldiers have been tried for the acts.Guatemala’s civil war pitted the army and police against leftist rebels. It ended with the signing of peace accords in 1996.

Of the 36 women who originally came forward, seven have died. The youngest was 19 when she was attacked.

Among the women who testified at this trial, was Pedrina Ixpatá. She is 63 now, but was 21 when she said she was assaulted. Félix Tum Ramírez, one of those convicted, had pointed her out to soldiers earlier in the day in the plaza.In recent weeks fluoride-containing products have increasingly been targeted with lawsuits and legal actions.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced an investigation early this month into the marketing of fluoride toothpastes by Colgate-Palmolive and Proctor and Gamble. A press release from his office described the companies’ promotions as “misleading, deceptive and dangerous.”The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

▶ Follow live updates onWASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is tapping Dr. Casey Means, a physician-turned-wellness influencer with close ties to Health and Human Services Secretary