Afghan hotel blast kills 3 tribal leaders
KABUL, Afghanistan -- A bomb went off in a hotel room in Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar province Tuesday, killing three tribal elders.
The spokesman in Nangarhar, Attaullah Khogyani, said the bomb went off around noon as tribal elders gathered in the hotel room in Jalalabad, the provincial capital, to discuss village problems.
Khogyani said three other elders were wounded in the blast and that another bomb was discovered and defused by police forces near the hotel.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the blast.
Meanwhile, in western Farah province, attacks on police checkpoints killed eight policemen. Mohammad Naser Mehri, spokesman for the Farah governor, said two police checkpoints came under attack overnight, one in Bala Buluk district and one near Farah city.
Mehri added that 13 insurgents were also killed in the fighting, which started Monday night and ended early Tuesday.
Qari Yusouf Ahmadi, a Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the attacks in Farah.
3 suspects held in Barcelona attacks
PARIS -- Three people have been detained in France in August's deadly attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils, the French prosecutor's office said Tuesday.
The arrests were made Tuesday in the southern French regions of Tarn and Gard after a decision by a French judge last month to launch a full inquiry into the Spanish attacks, which left 16 people dead during the peak tourist season.
The three individuals are being held over the inquiry into "attempted murder as part of a terrorist enterprise" and "criminal terrorist association." The identities and nationalities of the three have not been disclosed.
No charges have been filed.
The French prosecutor's office said the three are in the network of one of the attack suspects in Spain but declined to elaborate.
Mob kills 2 men in girl's rape, death
GAUHATI, India -- About 1,000 people dragged two suspects out of a police station and beat them to death in anger after the rape and killing of a 5-year-old girl in India's remote northeast, police said Tuesday.
Fifteen police officers were injured in Monday's mob attack in Tezu, a town in Arunachal Pradesh state, police officer Apur Bitin said.
Bitin said the mob first demanded that the two accused be handed over to it. The mob later dragged the two out of the police jail cell and attacked them and the heavily outnumbered police.
The girl was raped and killed Feb. 12 in the nearby village of Namgo. The region is 235 miles northeast of Itanagar, the capital of Arunachal Pradesh.
Pema Khandu, the state's top elected official, ordered a magistrate to investigate the matter.
Plan advances to put Rio under military
SAO PAULO -- Brazil's lower house approved a decree to put the military in charge of Rio de Janeiro's security forces early Tuesday as soldiers and police spread throughout the city to confront rising crime.
The military took over Rio's police Friday, but the presidential decree still needs congressional approval. The Chamber of Deputies has sent the measure to the Senate.
Overnight, the armed forces and police spread out in Rio in the first major operation since the change in command. They took up positions on major roads that connect Rio with the rest of the country in an effort to prevent drugs, illegal arms and stolen goods from entering the city, said Col. Roberto Itamar, a military spokesman. About 3,000 members of the armed forces were involved.
Armored vehicles rolled through the streets of one neighborhood on Guanabara Bay on Tuesday, while boats patrolled the waters. Soldiers and police set up checkpoints and searched everyone leaving or entering during the morning commute.
By Tuesday evening, 11 people had been detained, and six guns, six grenades and a large quantity of drugs had been seized, the state security department said.
The operation was planned before the new military commander took over, and he has yet to lay out his plan for tackling the wave of violence in Rio.
A Section on 02/21/2018