FBI aids in probe of Mexico killings
MEXICO CITY -- FBI agents are in Mexico to help investigate the fatal shootings of nine American women and children last week.
FBI spokeswoman Lauren Hagee said Tuesday that agents are "providing assistance at the invitation of the Mexican Government."
A Mexican federal official said FBI agents have been in Mexico since Monday, adding that they were unarmed. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to provide details.
Mexican Security Secretary Alfonso Durazo said Monday that arrests have been made in the killings. He did not say how many people had been arrested or give any information on what organization they belong to.
His department did not respond to requests for further information Monday.
The ambush attack occurred Nov. 4 in the northern Mexican state of Sonora. Authorities suspect Mexican drug cartel hit men carried out the attack.
The victims were dual U.S.-Mexican citizens, members of Mormon communities in northern Mexico that aren't affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Bangladesh trains collide; 16 killed
DHAKA, Bangladesh -- Two trains collided in eastern Bangladesh on Tuesday, killing at least 16 people and injuring scores of others, officials said.
Local Police Chief Shayamal Kanti Das said the collision occurred when the Udayan Express and Turna Nishita trains approached each other on the same track from opposite directions in Brahmanbaria district. The area is 51 miles east of the capital, Dhaka.
Local government administrator Hayat Ud Dowlah Khan said 16 people died and at least 40 others were being treated at hospitals for injuries. The United News of Bangladesh agency said more than 100 were injured.
TV footage showed rescuers pulling bodies from the twisted coaches and using body bags to send the victims to hospital morgues.
Authorities were investigating the accident, but officials said they found the driver of the Turna Nishita train responsible because he ignored a signal. That driver and two other workers have been suspended.
Train accidents are common in Bangladesh, blamed mainly on unsupervised railway crossings, poor signaling and bad track conditions.
Gay-rights backers decry Uganda raid
KAMPALA, Uganda -- Sixty-seven people arrested at a gay-friendly bar in Uganda were charged with "common nuisance" Tuesday in what activists called the latest attack on the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
They face a maximum sentence of a year in prison, lawyer Patricia Kimera said. She described the charges as "petty," adding that "we are campaigning to decriminalize such charges because they give the arresting officers room to abuse people's rights."
All were remanded to prison without bail and will be back in court later this month.
A human-rights lawyer, Nicholas Opiyo, said police released 50 other people after Sunday's raid on the bar in the capital, Kampala. He said the bar is popular with members of the LGBT community because it's a place where they won't be judged.
Gay-rights activist Kasha Jacqueline said the bar is used for health-outreach programs. Jacqueline rejected police allegations of drug possession.
A police spokesman, Patrick Onyango, denied that the raid targeted the LGBT community.
Gay people face discrimination in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa. Uganda punishes sex acts "against the order of nature" with sentences up to life in prison.
A Section on 11/13/2019