Train derails in Washington, DC

Train derails in Washington, DC

WASHINGTON

Officials warned Washington, D.C.-area residents to brace for a potentially slow commute today after a CSX freight train derailed near a Metro stop, sending 14 cars off the tracks and spilling hazardous material.

The train derailed about 6:40 a.m. Sunday near the Rhode Island Avenue Metro station, and one of the cars leaked sodium hydroxide, which is used to produce various household products including paper, soap and detergents, CSX said.

No injuries were reported, and no evacuations were ordered.

Puerto Rico won’t make $370 million in debt payments

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico

Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla announced that Puerto Rico’s government will not make nearly $370 million in bond payments due today after a failure to restructure or find a political solution to the U.S. territory’s spiraling public-debt crisis.

Garcia said Sunday that he had issued an executive order suspending payments on debt owed by the island’s Government Development Bank, a default that likely will prompt lawsuits from creditors and could be a prelude to a deadline to a much larger payment due July 1.

The governor said Puerto Rico can’t pay the bonds without cutting essential services.

Protests disband after 2nd bombing

BAGHDAD

Anti-government demonstrators disbanded at least temporarily Sunday from the heavily fortified Green Zone they had stormed a day earlier after the Islamic State group carried out its second major attack in Iraq in two days – a pair of car bombs that killed more than 30 people.

The country’s political crisis intensified Saturday when hundreds of supporters of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr tore down walls and poured into the zone that is home to the seat of the Iraqi government and most foreign embassies. Loudspeaker announcements Sunday evening urged protesters to leave peacefully. When the call came, hundreds calmly packed up and left, carrying flags and overnight bags away with them.

Fire damages historic NYC church

NEW YORK

A huge fire that sent plumes of smoke billowing into the skyline heavily damaged a historic church in New York City on Sunday.

Authorities reported one minor injury in the blaze that started just before 7 p.m. at the Serbian Orthodox Cathedral of St. Sava in Manhattan.

Three hours later the main body of the fire was knocked down, but firefighters still were putting out small pockets of flames Sunday night, officials said. Authorities did not say what caused the fire.

Car bomb kills 2 officers in Turkey

ANKARA, Turkey

A car bomb struck the entrance of a Turkish police station Sunday in the southern city of Gaziantep, killing two police officers and wounding 22 other people in a day marred by violence and May Day protests.

Four civilians were among those wounded in the explosion, according to Gov. Ali Yerlikaya of Gaziantep province. The blast shattered the windows of nearby buildings.

The police station is close to offices for the governor and mayor. Gaziantep is also home to the offices of international aid organizations focused on the conflict in neighboring Syria.

Associated Press