Separatists blamed for attack in China

Separatists blamed for attack in China

KUNMING, CHINA

Authorities on Sunday blamed a slashing rampage that killed 29 people and wounded 143 at a train station in southern China on separatists from the country’s far west, while local residents said government crackdowns had taken their toll on the purported culprits.

Police fatally shot four of the assailants — putting the overall death toll at 33 — and captured another after the attack late Saturday in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province, the official Xinhua News Agency said. But authorities were searching for at least five more of the black-clad attackers.

State broadcaster CCTV said two of the assailants were women, including one of the slain and the one detained.

Blasts in Nigeria kill at least 90 people

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria

Twin car bombs at a bustling city marketplace blasted buildings to rubble and tore apart bodies the same night an attack on a farming village razed every thatched-roof hut.

At least 90 people have been killed, officials and survivors reported Sunday, as Nigeria’s Islamic extremists step up attacks and criticism mounts of the failure of the military and government to suppress the 4-year-old Islamic uprising in the northeast.

The victims include children dancing at a wedding celebration and people watching a soccer match at a cinema, survivors told The Associated Press.

Fifty-one bodies were retrieved by Sunday morning but many more are believed buried in rubble, said a Red Cross official who insisted on anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press. Some were burned beyond recognition in fires caused by the explosions.

Volcano erupts in Guatemala

GUATEMALA CITY

Guatemala authorities say the Pacaya volcano near Guatemala City has shot plumes of ash and vapor 2.3 miles high, while spewing glowing-hot rock.

The eruption early Sunday is the latest round of activity at the scenic volcano located just 30 miles south of Guatemala City.

Pacaya is one of Guatemala’s most active and picturesque volcanos. An eruption in January sent lava flowing down one side of the volcano, leading to evacuations.

NY jury selection starts for son-in-law of Osama bin Laden

NEW YORK

Amid unusually tight security, Osama bin Laden’s son-in-law goes to trial today on charges he conspired to kill Americans in his role as al-Qaida’s mouthpiece after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Spectators at the trial of Sulaiman Abu Ghaith — the highest-ranking al-Qaida figure to face trial on U.S. soil since the attacks — will pass through a metal detector before entering a Manhattan courtroom where prosecutors will try to prove to an anonymous jury that the one-time terror network spokesman tried to rally others to kill Americans.

Prosecutors say they plan to show jurors during their opening statement a picture of Abu Ghaith seated with bin Laden and other al-Qaida leaders on the day after Sept. 11, 2001, as they make statements about the attacks. They say Abu Ghaith described the circumstances of the filming in his post-arrest statement.

Also during the trial, prosecutors will show jurors post-9/11 videos in which the charismatic bearded man promises more attacks on the United States as devastating as those that demolished the World Trade Center.

Associated Press