Pakistani court orders temple rebuilt
ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan's Supreme Court ordered authorities Tuesday to rebuild a century-old Hindu temple that was vandalized and set on fire by a mob last week, an attack condemned by the government and leaders of minority Hindus.
The court ruled after authorities said they arrested more than 100 people for attacking the temple and several police officers were fired for neglecting to protect the structure.
The temple's destruction happened Dec. 30 in Karak, a town in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Supporters of Pakistan's radical Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party and residents attacked the building after being incited by a local cleric who was opposed to the temple's planned renovation.
Although Muslims and Hindus generally live peacefully together in Pakistan, there have been other attacks on Hindu temples in recent years. Most of Pakistan's minority Hindus migrated to India in 1947 when India was divided by Britain's government.
U.S. airmen, drones deploy to Romania
BUCHAREST, Romania -- The U.S. Air Force has deployed about 90 airmen and an unspecified number of drone aircraft to a base in central Romania, boosting its military presence in the region where there are allied concerns that Russia is trying to display its military strength.
The Romanian Defense Ministry said the U.S. deployment in its Campia Turzii Air Base will be for "a few months" to conduct information gathering, surveillance and research missions in support of NATO operations.
NATO-member Romania shares the Black Sea border with Russia, and Moscow has lately been arming its neighbor Serbia with military aircraft, tanks and other armored vehicles.
"The forward and ready positioning of our MQ-9s [Reaper drones] at this key strategic location reassures our allies and partners, while also sending a message to our adversaries, that we can quickly respond to any emergent threat," Gen. Jeff Harrigian, U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa commander, said in a statement.
The statement said the Reapers will boost surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities in the Black Sea region, where the U.S. has regularly accused Russia of dangerous intercepts of its military aircraft and other incidents that have caused tensions to flare between the two superpowers.
Belgian blast suspects ordered to trial
BRUSSELS -- Ten people including the lone known surviving suspect in the 2015 deadly Paris attacks have been ordered to stand trial in connection with the suicide bombings that killed 32 people and injured hundreds in the Brussels subway and airport nearly five years ago.
According to the federal prosecutor's office, the Brussels Chamber of the Council also decided Tuesday that charges against three others suspects should be dismissed.
Earlier this year, prosecutors requested that eight of the 13 main suspects should be referred to the criminal court of assizes -- the court that tries the most serious crimes -- for charges of assassinations and attempted assassinations in a terrorism context, and for belonging to a terror group.
But the Council Chamber decided to refer to the court all 10 people who were ultimately charged, meaning that only one trial related to the case should take place.
Among those to stand trial is Salah Abdeslam, who is also suspected of playing a major role in the Paris attacks, and Mohamed Abrini, the Brussels native who walked away from Brussels' Zaventem airport after his explosives failed to detonate.
Search ends for Norway slide survivors
COPENHAGEN, Denmark -- Norwegian authorities said Tuesday that they have given up hope of finding survivors of a landslide that swept away homes in a residential area almost a week ago, killing seven people.
Three people are still missing from the Dec. 30 disaster that destroyed at least nine buildings with more than 30 apartments in the village of Ask, located 16 miles northeast of Oslo. The landslide was among the worst in modern Norwegian history.
"It is with great sadness that I must say that we no longer have any hope of finding people alive after the landslide" local Police Chief Ida Melbo Oeystese said.
Search crews will continue "working to find everyone who is missing," Oeystese said.
The police chief spoke hours after a small dog was found alive in the rubble, raising hopes for rescuers. The dog was found late Monday "in good condition" in an area where rescuers had been working, police spokesman Ivar Myrboe said.
Another, smaller landslide just before midday Tuesday forced the search teams to evacuate the site and no one was injured, police said.
-- Compiled by Democrat-Gazette staff from wire reports
