NEWS OF THE DAY
From Around the World
_1 Somalia attack: At least six people were killed, including two children, after a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle in Somalia’s capital of Mogadishu on Sunday. Police Capt. Mohamed Hussein said the bomber tried to speed through a checkpoint but was stopped by security forces, prompting him to detonate the vehicle near the gate of Howlwadag district headquarters. The three soldiers who stopped the truck were killed, and the three others who died were civilians. At least 14 others were wounded. Officials warned there could be more casualties as the blast brought down nearby buildings, including a mosque. The al Qaeda-linked extremist group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the explosion.
_2 Amsterdam stabbing: Detectives on Sunday continued to question a 19-year-old Afghan man suspected of stabbing two American tourists at Amsterdam’s main railway station in what is being investigated as an extremist attack. The suspect, identified only as Jawed S. under Dutch privacy rules, was shot and wounded by police after allegedly stabbing the Americans on Friday. Police spokesman Ruben Sprong said the suspect was being interrogated in a hospital and is scheduled to appear before an investigating judge Monday. The Americans, who have not been identified, also remain hospitalized with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
_3 Syria blasts: At least two military personnel were killed and 11 wounded in overnight explosions caused by suspected Israeli strikes on a military airport on the edge of the capital of Damascus, a war monitoring group said Sunday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the blasts rocked a weapons depot inside the airport. Syrian pro-government media initially blamed the blasts on Israel, but state media later quoted an unnamed Syrian military official as saying the explosions were caused by an electrical malfunction in a munitions depot.
_4 China protest: Police in central China detained 46 people Sunday who were part of a protest against a government plan to address overcrowded classrooms that escalated into violence. Police in the city of Leiyang in Hunan province said the people were detained as officers dispersed around 600 protesters who had gathered outside a police station late Saturday. Some of the protesters hurled bottles and bricks, injuring more than 30 police officers and damaging several vehicles. The parents were protesting the city’s plan to transfer students from overcrowded public schools to expensive private schools.
_5 Philippines bombing: Suspected Muslim militants on Sunday detonated a second bomb in less than a week in the southern town of Isulan, killing at least one person and wounding 15 others, the military said. The bomb went off near an internet cafe in Isulan town, and troops put the town in a security lockdown after the attack. A bomb concealed in a bag went off near a market on Wednesday, killing three people. Military officials blamed both bombings on the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.
_6 Hearse theft: Police in central Mexico say they caught a man who made off with a hearse — with a corpse inside. The Tlaquepaque police department said the hearse had been readied to take the body of an 80-year-old man from a hospital in neighboring Guadalajara to a funeral home. A man saw keys left in the vehicle and took it late Friday. Officers spotted the hearse along a highway and detained the suspect.