NEWS OF THE DAY
From Around the World
Pedestrians killed: A man with a history of mental health and drug abuse issues drove into a street crowded with pedestrians in Australia’s second-largest city Friday, killing at least four people, including a child, and injuring around 15 others, police said. The chaos began in the early afternoon, after a man was seen driving in erratic circles in the middle of a major intersection in downtown Melbourne. The driver then turned onto the Bourke Street Mall, a pedestrian-only road, deliberately mowing people down before continuing onto a sidewalk and hitting several others, police said. Police shot the driver and arrested him at the scene. The 26-year-old man was being treated at a hospital for non-life threatening injuries. Officials have not released his name and said there is no further threat to the public. Afghan bombing: An Afghan government official says two people, including a police commander, have been killed in an explosion in the country’s north after a sticky bomb was attached to the commander’s car. Local spokesman Munir Ahmed Farhad says the bomb went off on Friday in Balkh province as the car entered a stadium where the popular ancient sport of Buzkashi is played. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. Taliban insurgents operate in the area, which has also been the scene of feuding among local warlords. Buzkashi is an ancient Central Asian sport in which horse-mounted players fight to move a headless goat from one end of the field to the other. In Afghanistan, it’s often played on Friday, the weekly holiday.
Russia-Syria pact: Russia signed a long-term agreement Friday to greatly enlarge its military presence in Syria, more than doubling the space for warships in Russia’s only Mediterranean port and securing rights to an air base that may already be adding a second runway. The agreement covers the port in Tartus and an air base near Latakia, which have been pivotal in Russian assistance to President Bashar Assad in fighting an array of insurgents. It ensures Russia’s ability to deploy forces in Syria for the next half-century and perhaps beyond.
Cubans deported: Mexico has returned to Cuba the first contingent of Cuban migrants since former U.S. president Barack Obama decided Thursday to end a U.S. policy of granting residency to Cubans who arrive on U.S. soil. Mexico’s National Immigration Institute said Friday it put 91 Cubans on a federal police airplane and flew them back to the island after the Cuban government accepted their return. Mexico had long technically been able to deport Cubans, but the Cuban government usually refused to accept them.
World War II bomb: Britain’s Royal Navy removed and detonated a dangerous World War II bomb Friday whose discovery in the River Thames shut down a chunk of central London. The Metropolitan Police force said officers were called Thursday “to reports of suspected World War II ordnance in the river” found by a dredger near the Houses of Parliament. Police cordoned off roads in the area and closed two bridges over the river. Nearby Westminster subway station also was shut. Navy disposal teams towed the 2-foot by 1-foot device downriver to Tilbury, in the Thames estuary, where it was detonated. London was heavily bombed by Nazi Germany during the war, and unexploded munitions are still occasionally found.