9 pupils fatally stabbed at China school
BEIJING -- A man wielding a knife killed nine children and injured a dozen others outside a middle school in central China on Friday, authorities said, in one of the worst attacks at a Chinese school in recent years.
The incident took place shortly after 6 p.m., officials said, as students were being dismissed at the Mizhi County No. 3 Middle School in Shaanxi province, about 500 miles southwest of Beijing.
The police said they had taken into custody a suspect, a man with the surname Zhao, born in 1990. They said the man was a graduate of the middle school and that he had told police he was seeking revenge because he was bullied during his time there.
The police said the dead included seven girls and two boys.
The attack revived fears in China about school safety, a perennial concern among parents. Knives are a weapon of choice in China, where guns and other weapons are strictly regulated.
Violence rises ahead of S. Sudan talks
JUBA, South Sudan -- A new surge in violence in South Sudan's civil war is having a "devastating impact" on thousands of people ahead of peace talks that are now set to resume next month, the United Nations said Friday.
The U.N. statement reported gunfire overnight near a temporary peacekeeping base in Leer where 600 civilians have sought shelter in recent days.
"More than 30 humanitarian workers have been relocated over the past two weeks because it is too dangerous for them to operate in the midst of the escalating conflict. Thousands of people have fled into swamp and bush areas," the U.N. said of the new clashes in the Unity, Jonglei and Central Equatorias regions.
The regional bloc that has been mediating the peace talks in neighboring Ethiopia says the next round will be May 17-21. The talks had been delayed by weeks amid disagreements by the warring parties.
8 countries seize ISIS data, servers
PARIS -- Police around Europe and North America have seized servers and data from Islamic State propaganda outlets in a multicountry operation aimed at tracking down radicals and crimping the group's ability to spread its violent message.
The two-day operation was the culmination of efforts started in late 2015, after coordinated Islamic State attacks that killed 130 people in Paris, according to a statement from European police agency Europol.
Police notably targeted the Islamic State-branded Aamaq news agency, as well as al-Bayan radio, and Halumu and Nasher news sites. Aamaq spreads information online in at least nine languages and has been used to claim the Islamic State was behind attacks in multiple countries, from the 2016 nightclub attack in Florida to a deadly supermarket hostage-taking in southern France last month.
The operation was led by Belgian prosecutors and also involved authorities in the U.S., Canada, Britain, Bulgaria, France, the Netherlands and Romania.
Indian security forces kill 7 Maoists
NEW DELHI -- At least seven Maoist rebels were killed Friday in the second major operation this week by security forces against their strongholds in central and western India, police said.
Security forces attacked the rebels after learning they were meeting in a forest hideout in Bijapur district in Chhattisgarh state, police officer Mohit Garg said.
He said seven rebels were killed in an exchange of gunfire. There were no immediate reports of casualties among the security forces.
The dead rebels included both men and women, the Press Trust of India news agency reported.
At least 37 Maoist rebels were killed in gunbattles between government forces and insurgents in Gadchirolia in western Maharasthra state earlier this week.
The Maoist rebels, who claim inspiration from Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong, have been fighting India's government for more than four decades.
-- Compiled by Democrat-Gazette staff from wire reports
A Section on 04/28/2018