4 suspected militants set to go on trial in Spain

Four suspected militants are due to go on trial Thursday afternoon in Madrid for allegedly aiding fugitives from the Madrid train bombings of 2004, a National Court spokesman told CNN.

Prosecutor Miguel Angel Carballo, at Spain's National Court, seeks sentences of eight to 13 years in prison against the four male suspects, who include a Moroccan, an Algerian, a Tunisian, and a fourth man whose nationality was not immediately disclosed, said the spokesman, who by custom is not identified.

The prosecutor alleges the suspects provided clandestine lodging in Madrid and in a Barcelona suburb, as well as other aid to various fugitives who "were directly implicated" in the Madrid train bombings that killed 191 people and wounded more than 1,800, the spokesman said.

Spanish courts already have convicted 14 Islamic militants for their roles in the train bombings, along with four Spaniards, the latter for trafficking in explosives used in the attacks.

Additionally, seven other prime Islamic suspects in the attacks blew themselves up three weeks after the train bombings as police closed in on their hideout in a Madrid suburb. That explosion also killed a police officer and wounded various others.

The seventh anniversary of the train bombings was two weeks ago on March 11.

Spanish doctor charged in doping investigation

A prosecutor has brought the first formal charges against Eufemiano Fuentes and four others in Spain's long-running Operation Puerto doping scandal.

Judicial official Jose Manuel Garcia says it is up to a judge to decide whether to order a trial.

However, Garcia says he expected the doctor and the other suspects, including former cycling team owner Manolo Saiz, to stand trial in the case. The case began with police raids in May 2006 that netted steroids and blood equipment.

Fuentes also has been implicated in the Spanish Civil Guard's ongoing Operation Galgo investigation into doping in Spanish athletics.

Operation Puerto implicated more than 50 cyclists, including Ivan Basso, Jan Ullrich and Alejandro Valverde.

Police find body of U.S. student missing in Spain

Police in Spain found the body of missing U.S. college student Austin Taylor Bice, 22 early Tuesday in Madrid, authorities said.

The body was found after officials drained a portion of the Manzanares River near the discotheque where Bice was last seen after a night out with friends more than a week ago, said Jesus Sanchez, a spokesman for the central government's main regional office in Madrid.

There will be an autopsy, but an initial visual inspection of the body did not indicate any signs of violence, the officials said.

The San Diego State University student had not been seen since early February 26, when he told several friends he was going home alone while others stayed at the discotheque, family members and friends said.

"We are all very upset," said Carlos Lopez Terradas, head of international relations at Madrid's University of Carlos III, where Bice arrived last January for a semester of business-course study abroad.