NEWS OF THE DAY
From Around the World
_1
China explosion: Eight people were killed and 59 injured in an explosion Thursday at the front gate of a kindergarten in eastern China as relatives were picking up their children at the end of the school day, local officials said. The official Xinhua News Agency said Friday that police have identified a suspect in the explosion at the Chuangxin Kindergarten in Fengxian. Kindergartens in China have been targeted before in apparent revenge attacks carried out by mentally ill people or those bearing grudges against neighbors and society.
_2
Imprisoned ex-premier: Israel’s Justice Ministry says it has asked the police to investigate whether the country’s imprisoned former prime minister committed a “criminal offense” while behind bars. It said Thursday that the book Ehud Olmert is writing contains “sensitive security issues” and his lawyer was caught leaving the prison with a chapter on “secret operations” not approved by the censor for publication. Olmert was a longtime fixture in Israel’s hawkish right wing when he took a dramatically more conciliatory line toward the Palestinians about a decade ago. He was convicted in 2014 in a wide-ranging case that accused him of accepting bribes to promote a real-estate project years before he became prime minister in 2006.
_3
Restaurant attack: At least 31 people were killed in the night-long siege of a popular Mogadishu restaurant by al-Shabab Islamic extremists that was ended by Somali security forces. Survivors described harrowing scenes of hiding under tables and behind curtains as the five gunmen hunted for victims in the darkened Pizza House restaurant. Nearly 40 people were wounded. The attack began Wednesday evening with a car bomb exploding at the gate to the restaurant and ended when troops secured the site after dawn, said senior police Capt. Mohamed Hussein.
_4
Refugees rescued: A Spanish aid organization rescued 420 refugees attempting the perilous crossing of the Mediterranean Sea to Europe in packed smugglers’ boats from Libya. A spokeswoman for Spain’s Proactiva Open Arms aid group said its crews on Thursday rescued most of the refugees from two packed rubber dinghies and a wooden boat that were sailing in international waters 18 miles north of the Libyan coastal town of Sabratha. Libya is one of the prime spots for smugglers to launch boats packed with refugees desperate to reach Europe. At least 1,808 have died this year trying to cross the Mediterranean.
_5
Parliament to open: The leader of Britain’s House of Commons says the state opening of Parliament will take place Wednesday. The announcement by Andrea Leadsom suggests that Prime Minister Theresa May and Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party have struck an agreement or are close to one. May is also holding talks Thursday with other Northern Ireland political parties. May needs the support of the DUP to govern, after a disastrous election result in which she lost her parliamentary majority.
_6
“Art of the Deal”: Dennis Rodman delivered a message from President Trump to North Korea — sort of. On Thursday, the former NBA player gave the country’s sports minister a copy of Trump’s book “The Art of the Deal,” a present intended for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. It wasn’t signed by Trump, who was Rodman’s boss for two seasons of the “Celebrity Apprentice” reality TV show.