Car bombing kills 18

Car bombing kills 18

abuja, nigeria

A car loaded with explosives crashed into the main United Nations’ building in Nigeria’s capital and exploded Friday, killing at least 18 people in one of the deadliest assaults on the international body in a decade. A radical Muslim sect blamed for a series of attacks in the country claimed responsibility for the bombing, a major escalation of its sectarian fight against Nigeria’s weak central government.

Deadly casino attack shocks Mexicans

monterrey, mexico

Mexicans have endured plenty of horrific crimes during their country’s bloody five-year war against drug gangs: bodies hanging from overpasses, beheadings, mass slayings of migrants, gunfights on crowded steets.

The torching of the casino that killed at least 52 people on Thursday, however, was a shocking new low for many.

In a nationally televised speech, an angry President Felipe Calderon declared three days of mourning on Friday and labeled the attack on the Casino Royale in Monterrey the worst against civilians in the nation’s recent history.

Japan’s PM to resign

tokyo

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan announced Friday he would resign after almost 15 months in office amid plunging approval ratings over his government’s handling of the tsunami disaster and nuclear crisis.

In a nationally televised speech, Kan said he was stepping down as chief of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan and would officially quit as prime minister after the ruling party votes Monday to pick a new leader — the country’s sixth prime minister in five years.

Gov. Perry bills feds for housing illegals

austin, texas

Texas Gov. Rick Perry has asked the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for nearly $350 million to cover the costs incurred detaining illegal immigrants in state prisons and county jails.

In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Perry criticized the federal government hasn’t been doing enough to secure the border with Mexico, thereby allowing illegal immigrants to enter the U.S. and use taxpayer-funded resources, including prisons and jails.

The letter was dated Aug. 10, three days before Perry formally announced he is running for president.

Attack on academy kills 18 in Algeria

algiers, algeria

A bomb explosion followed by a suicide attack outside a military academy in Algeria killed at least 18 officers in training Friday, a hospital said.

The attacks began Friday evening when a bomb exploded just outside a military academy in Cherchell, 110 miles west of the capital, Algiers. Soldiers dining at a restaurant raced from their tables to see what happened, according to security officials.

As a crowd gathered, a suicide bomber with explosives strapped to his body drove his motorcycle at them, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity, citing policy.

Pediatrician gets life for abusing patients

georgetown, del.

Former Delaware pediatrician Earl Bradley will spend the rest of his life in prison for committing horrific acts of sexual abuse against scores of young patients over more than a decade, a judge ruled Friday.

Bradley, 58, showed no emotion as Judge William Carpenter Jr. sentenced him to 14 life sentences without parole for 14 counts of first-degree rape. Bradley also was sentenced to more than 160 years in prison for multiple counts of assault and sexual exploitation of a child.

Associated Press