The world in brief

3 soldiers slain in ambush, Mexico says

MEXICO CITY -- Mexico's army said three of its soldiers were killed and three more wounded in an ambush in the southern state of Guerrero.

In a statement, the army said the attack occurred in the township of Coyuca de Catalan when soldiers responded to an anonymous report about armed men in the area.

On Tuesday, state authorities found the body of the same township's mayor between Coyuca de Catalan and Ciudad Altamirano. He had taken leave to run for the state legislature. There was no initial indication that the incidents were connected.

The area near the border with Michoacan state has long been one of Mexico's most violent due to the opium poppy growing operations and the drug gangs that operate there.

Google bans ads on Irish abortion vote

LONDON -- Google is suspending all advertising connected to Ireland's abortion referendum as part of moves to protect "election integrity," the company announced Wednesday.

The move came a day after Facebook banned foreign-backed ads in the Irish campaign, amid global concerns about online election meddling and the role of Internet ads in swaying voters.

Google said that starting today, it would no longer display ads related to the May 25 vote on whether to repeal Ireland's constitutional ban on most abortions.

The prohibition on ads connected to the Irish vote applies to both Google and YouTube, which the company owns.

The online search leader, which is based in Mountain View, Calif., declined to say how much advertising revenue it was giving up because of the decision.

The role of online ads in elections is under scrutiny after revelations that political consultancy Britain-based Cambridge Analytica harvested Facebook users' data to micro-target political ads to select groups during the 2016 U.S. presidential race -- meaning that only those most susceptible to the message would see the advertisements.

Google's statement followed Facebook's decision Tuesday to ban foreign advertisements around the abortion referendum, which has drawn worries about the influence of North American groups.

Market blast reportedly kills 10 Somalis

MOGADISHU, Somalia -- A Somali official said Wednesday that a suicide bomber killed at least 10 people at a crowded market in a southern town.

Security official Ali Mohamed said the bomber, thought to be with the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab extremist group, detonated a suicide vest Wednesday in the market in Wanlaweyn, 55 miles south of Mogadishu.

Fifteen other people were wounded in the attack. Mohamed says most of the victims are civilians.

There is no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast, but the Somalia-based al-Shabab has carried out similar attacks in the region.

Despite being ousted from most of its key strongholds in the Horn of Africa nation, the extremist group continues to carry out attacks across large parts of southern and central Somalia.

U.S. soldier guilty of sabotaging airdrop

BERLIN -- An American soldier has been found guilty of deliberately destroying U.S. Army property for cutting the parachute straps of three Humvees that were dropped in southern Germany during an airborne exercise.

In a statement, the U.S. Army said Wednesday that a court-martial found Sgt. John T. Skipper guilty of three instances of destroying military property worth over $500 and of lying during the official criminal investigation.

The sabotage sent the Humvees smashing to the ground. Nobody was hurt.

Video of the April 2016 incident went viral after it was posted on social media.

Skipper was assigned to the 91st Cavalry Regiment (Airborne) in Grafenwoehr, Germany.

He was sentenced to a reduction in grade and a bad conduct discharge as part of the court-martial.

A Section on 05/10/2018

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