Madrid

MADRID, Spain -- Under heavy guard and shielded by bulletproof glass, 29 men charged in one of Europe's worst attacks faced survivors and the families of the nearly 200 dead for the first time yesterday. The carnage of March 11, 2004, traumatized a nation and upended Spanish politics. But many here hope a trial, which began yesterday, will somehow help heal the scars. Bombs ripped through four commuter trains during Madrid's morning rush hour, killing 191 people and wounding more than 1,800 others.

Temporary housing had been found last night for most of the 40 people, many of them low-income Salvadoran immigrants, who were displaced by a three-alarm fire at an Annapolis apartment complex yesterday morning. A woman and her infant daughter suffered smoke inhalation in the blaze at the Admiral Farragut Apartments on Hilltop Lane, and firefighters had to rescue eight people from their homes, said Capt. Ed Hadaway, an Annapolis Fire Department spokesman. More than 70 firefighters from Annapolis, Anne Arundel County and the Naval Academy battled the fire, which broke out shortly before 9:30 a.m. It took an hour to bring the fire under control.

We are visiting several cities in Spain - Madrid, Seville, Granada - in the next few weeks. Can you offer a few tips regarding weather? Pack plenty of short-sleeve shirts and shorts. July and August are typically the hottest months of the year in most of Spain, although temperatures sometimes drop in late August. In the cities you will be visiting, expect daytime highs in the 90s and even the low 100s. At night, it should cool off into the low 70s and high 60s. Bring a light jacket or sweater just in case, but you probably won't need it. One good thing: Those cities experience little or no rain in August, so you can leave your umbrella at home.

If you are vacationing in Europe this month, lucky you. In May, the weather is usually pleasant, costs are often lower, and most destinations are less congested. The same holds true for September. But whenever you go, look for savings along with the sights. The Royal Scotsman luxury train is offering a 50-percent companion fare for its four-day, Edinburgh round-trip Classic journey, July 18-22. The regular price is $5,580 per person fully inclusive, which means a savings of $2,790. There are several stops and many perks, along with fine dining, as the train makes its way along the countryside.

WASHINGTON -- The FBI's overconfidence in its fingerprint examiners led the bureau to falsely link a Portland lawyer to the 2004 Madrid train bombings, and the man's religion - Islam - was a factor in delaying his release, the Justice Department's inspector general concluded yesterday. Inspector General Glenn Fine found no intentional misconduct by the FBI, nor any abuse of the enhanced surveillance powers authorized by the USA Patriot Act in investigating Brandon Mayfield. But in an executive summary of a 273-page report that remains classified, Fine said the increased information-sharing allowed by the Patriot Act magnified the impact of the fingerprint misidentification because the error was passed on to government intelligence agencies.

MADRID -- The Spanish government announced yesterday that Ante Gotovina, a top war crimes suspect from Croatia, had been arrested in Spain's Canary Islands, clearing a major obstacle to Croatia's efforts to join the European Union. Spain's Interior Ministry said Gotovina, 50, was arrested Wednesday night at a restaurant in a luxury hotel in Tenerife. The Croatian government had been criticized by European Union officials as failing to cooperate sufficiently in the search for Gotovina, who is a revered figure in parts of Croatia.

MURCIA, SPAIN -- After a sizzling concert in a drizzling Madrid Saturday night to begin its first visit to Spain, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra headed by train yesterday morning to this modest, sunny, palm tree-dotted city founded in the 9th century. It's on to Barcelona today, then stops in Italy, Slovenia and Austria as the BSO continues its final European tour with music director Yuri Temirkanov. As has been evident back in Baltimore this season, the orchestra is making the most of its remaining time with the Russian conductor, who winds up his six-year tenure in June.

ON DEC. 4, 1811, an enormous cataclysm shook the central United States. It happened again six weeks later, on Jan. 23, and again Feb. 7. Most scientists say that each of the three had magnitudes approaching or above 8.0, stronger than the 1906 San Francisco earthquake - stronger, in fact, than any California earthquake in recorded history. Vibrations from the quakes toppled chimneys hundreds of miles away, cracked sidewalks in Cleveland, rang church bells in Boston and caused the Mississippi to run backward.

BRITISH PRIME Minister Tony Blair was correct recently in recognizing that extremism is what makes Islamic fundamentalism a threat rather than a political challenge or mere nuisance. It is the radicalism that empowers the attackers, with the hate-filled lectures of radical imams falling somewhere between free speech and incitement to violence, between civil liberty and shouting "fire" in a crowded theater. This leaves Americans, and many of our allies, in the uncomfortable position of either reversing long-held beliefs in the freedom to dissent or accepting the deeds and recruitment efforts of those who call for attacks on innocent civilians.

Although the motive for yesterday's bombings in London is not clear, one thing is: The financial and emotional repercussions are likely to be felt by every city that has been awarded the Olympics. The attack on London, the winner of the 2012 Summer Games, turned jubilation into shock and sorrow. It also brought a quick response from the International Olympic Committee. "It wasn't an attack against the Games," IOC President Jacques Rogge said. "Cities like London, Paris, New York all face these kind of risks, and remember what happened in Moscow and Madrid.