Suicide bombing in Lebanon kills 7

Suicide bombing in Lebanon kills 7

BEIRUT

A suicide bombing struck a coffee shop Saturday night in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, killing at least seven people and wounding more than 30, security officials and the Red Cross said.

Syria’s al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front claimed responsibility on Twitter for the blast in Tripoli’s predominantly Alawite neighborhood of Jabal Mohsen, saying it was a twin suicide attack.

Explosion, fire shake oil refinery

lima, ohio

An explosion at an Ohio oil refinery blew out windows at homes in Lima on Saturday and could be felt at least 10 miles away but resulted in no injuries, police said.

All workers were accounted for after the blast at the Husky Lima Refinery, according to police.

The 6 a.m. explosion sparked a fire that raged for hours before it was contained 12 hours later, said Sgt. Andy Green of the Lima Police Department. The refinery’s in-house firefighting crew expected to work through the night to completely extinguish it, Green said.

Zimmerman faces assault charges

MIAMI

Florida authorities say George Zimmerman, whose acquittal of murdering an unarmed black teen sparked a national debate on race and self-defense laws, has been arrested for purportedly throwing a wine bottle at his girlfriend.

The Seminole County Sheriff’s Office says the 31-year-old Zimmerman was arrested on aggravated assault charges at his home in Lake Mary about 10 p.m. Friday.

Zimmerman was released on a $5,000 bond Saturday afternoon. At a court appearance earlier Saturday, he was ordered to avoid contact with the woman, who was not identified.

Rally supports police

PHILADELPHIA

About 200 people braved temperatures below freezing to attend a rally near Philadelphia’s Independence Hall in support of local law- enforcement officers.

Pennsylvania Republicans Sen. Pat Toomey and Rep. Pat Meehan spoke at Saturday’s Delaware Valley Pro-Blue Rally, which was sponsored by the conservative Independence Hall Foundation but billed as a nonpartisan event.

SpaceX launch

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.

SpaceX sent a supply ship soaring flawlessly toward the International Space Station on Saturday, but the booster rocket ended up in pieces in the Atlantic after a failed attempt to land on a barge.

“Close, but no cigar this time,” the company’s billionaire founder, Elon Musk, announced via Twitter shortly after the unprecedented touchdown effort.

Despite the high-profile flop in the dark ocean, Musk said he was encouraged. The 14-story booster managed, at least, to fly back to the floating platform from an altitude dozens of miles high.

Haiti protests

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti

Protesters burned tires and threw rocks and glass bottles at riot police during another anti-government demonstration in Haiti’s capital Saturday amid a bitter political stalemate over long-delayed elections.

The demonstration of mostly young men reached a peak of about 1,500 in downtown Port-au-Prince as protesters called for the departure of President Michel Martelly, who took office in May 2011 and is due to leave next year.

Associated Press