EXPLOSION STARTED CARNAGE
SPAIN» A cell of BARCELONA, at least nine extremists meticulously plotted to combine vehicles and explosives in a direct hit on tourists, and managed to carry off most of their deadly plan, killing 14 people, authorities said Friday. Police in Spain and France pressed a manhunt for any remaining members of the group, which the Islamic State claimed as its own.
Only flawed bomb construction avoided a more devastating attack, authorities said after taking a closer look at a blast Wednesday in the town of Alcanar.
Eighteen hours later, a rented van veered into Barcelona’s crowded Las Ramblas promenade, swerving along the walkway Thursday killing 13 people. Attackers drove a second vehicle to the boardwalk in the resort town of Cambrils early Friday, fatally injuring one person. Five of those attackers were shot to death.
Finnish police shoot man who stabs 8.
A man stabbed eight people Friday in Finland’s western city of Turku, killing two of them, before police shot him in the thigh and detained him, police said. Authorities were looking for more potential suspects in the attack.
A suspect was being treated in the city’s main hospital but was in police custody. Security was stepped up across the Nordic country, Interior Minister Paula Risikko said.
Police said the man likely acted alone though it was not possible to completely rule out that other people were involved.
Dashcam video shows white cop punching black man.
CLEVELAND» A dashcam video of a traffic stop that led to a white police officer with a history of disciplinary issues repeatedly punching a black man and hitting his head on pavement appears to show a different sequence of events than police originally described.
The initial statement from police in the Cleveland suburb of Euclid said Richard Hubbard III, who was pulled over on suspicion of having a suspended driver’s license, had refused Officer Michael Amiott’s orders to “face away” after getting out of his car Aug. 12 and then began resisting. But the video obtained in a public records request appears to show Amiott not giving Hubbard a chance to comply, Hubbard’s attorney said Friday.
Death toll up to 450 after mudslides.
FREETOWN,
LEONE» Rescue officials SIERRA in Sierra Leone warned Friday that the chances of finding survivors in the debris of this week’s mudslides “are getting smaller every day,” as bereaved and homeless survivors faced the magnitude of all they have lost.
Up to 450 bodies have been recovered in and around the capital, Freetown, after Monday’s mudslides and flooding, according to Dr. Simeon Owiss Koroma, the government’s chief consultant forensic pathologist. Some 600 others are missing and feared dead.
At least 122 of the victims are children, and a similar number have been orphaned, the aid group Save the Children said.
Search continues for helicopter crew.
Army officials have spent days sifting through chunks of Black Hawk helicopter debris in turbulent Pacific waters off Hawaii but have yet to see any signs of life in their search for five soldiers missing since the aircraft crashed during nighttime training on Tuesday.
The U.S. Coast Guard said Friday it is searching up to 50 miles off the remote point where the Black Hawk helicopter crashed west of Oahu.
Firefighters found and collected what appeared to be pieces of helicopter fuselage and a helmet earlier in the week. The Coast Guard said responders continue to find debris.
The Navy brought remotely operated underwater vehicles and sonar to help in the search.
Conservationist killed in Tanzania.
A U.S.-based conservation group says its South African co-founder has been shot and killed in Tanzania.
The PAMS Foundation said Thursday on Facebook that Wayne Lotter was killed Wednesday night in the Masa-ki district of Dar es Salaam. It says Tanzanian police are investigating.
Poachers have killed tens of thousands of elephants in Tanzania in the past decade.
Right-wing activist faces charges from Berkeley event.
CALIF.» A OAKLAND, right-wing organizer faces a charge of illegal possession of a baton he was seen swinging at counter-protesters during a chaotic rally for President Donald Trump in Berkeley, Calif. earlier this year.
The Alameda County district attorney filed the felony charge against Kyle Chapman. Prosecutors say if convicted, he faces a lengthy prison term under California’s three-strikes law because it would be his third felony conviction.
Chapman is scheduled to speak at rallies in Boston this weekend and in San Francisco later this month. He posted a message on Facebook calling the allegations “bogus charges.”
Swift leaves “blank space, baby” on social media.
YORK» Taylor Swift NEW had a “blank space, baby” across social media Friday. There was no word from the Swift camp on what happened, but the “Blank Space” pop star is known for promotional trickery on her social streams ahead of major music drops.
In addition to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr, her website went dark and the hashtag “TS6IsComing” — as in her sixth studio album — trended worldwide.
The stunt comes days after federal jurors in Denver found a former radio host, David Mueller, groped Swift during a meet-andgreet in 2013. Mueller was ordered to pay Swift $1. He continues to deny he groped Swift.
Aug. 18 also is three years on the nose since Swift dropped “Shake It Off” and announced “1989” was on the way in 2014.