Paris attack suspect fights extradition

Paris attack suspect fights extradition

BRUSSELS

After a bullet in the leg ended his four-month flight from the law, Salah Abdeslam started a legal fight Saturday against his extradition from Belgium to France, where the president and the families of 130 victims want the top suspect in the Paris attacks to stand trial.

In Paris, prosecutor Francois Molins said Saturday that Abdeslam told Belgian officials that he had “wanted to blow himself up at the Stade de France” on Nov. 13 but that he backed out at the last minute.

Abdeslam was shot Friday along with a suspected accomplice when they were captured by Belgian police during a massive anti-terror raid in Brussels.

Skyslide airlifted to LA skyscraper

LOS ANGELES

The latest Los Angeles thrill ride has arrived – a glass slide that will jut from a skyscraper 1,000 feet above the ground.

A helicopter brought the Skyslide to the 69th floor of the downtown U.S. Bank Tower on Saturday. At 72 stories, it is the tallest building west of the Mississippi.

When it opens June 25, the transparent, 45-foot-long slide will carry visitors from floors 70 to 69 as they peer down through 1 1/4-inch-thick glass.

Skyslide is part of a $50 million renovation that also will put an open-air observation deck and bar on the tower’s top floors. The slide ends at the observation deck.

Cities worldwide mark Earth Hour

NEW YORK

Cities around the world turned out the lights Saturday evening to mark the 10th annual Earth Hour, a global movement dedicated to protecting the planet and highlighting the effects of climate change.

As night came on, the lights went out in cities from South Korea to the United States in what the World Wildlife Fund describes as a moment of solidarity for climate action. The group sponsors the event.

Lights went out for the hourlong event – from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. local time – in Beijing, Moscow, Beirut, Cairo, Athens, Rome and Paris. The lights atop the Empire State Building in New York were dimmed, and some billboards in Times Square also went dark.

Militants kill 13 policemen in Sinai

EL-ARISH, Egypt

Militants killed 13 Egyptian policemen in an attack Saturday on a checkpoint south of northern Sinai’s provincial capital of el-Arish, the Egyptian Interior Ministry said.

A Sinai-based Islamic State affiliate has claimed responsibility for the attack, according to a statement circulated on social media. The Associated Press could not independently verify the claim.

The local IS affiliate has been targeting Egyptian security forces in Sinai and claimed the downing of a Russian airliner last October that killed 224 people.

SC, NY consider refugee registries

COLUMBIA, S.C.

While Republican front-runner Donald Trump continues to make waves nationally for his comments about banning Muslims from traveling to the country, lawmakers in two very different states are proposing that all refugees register with the government.

Registration bills are being proposed in both New York State and in South Carolina, where if refugees commit an act of terrorism, their sponsors, under the bill, could be held liable.

The South Carolina lawmakers say they are less concerned about a possible constitutional challenge than a possible terrorist threat coming to the state.

Opponents, however, say the measure is out of character for a state that often espouses the importance of Christian hospitality and loving your neighbor.

Associated Press