FBI probing threats to Jewish centers

FBI probing threats to Jewish centers

CHICAGO

Federal authorities say they’re investigating threats to Jewish centers nationwide.

A brief FBI statement Wednesday says it and the Justice Department’s civil-rights division are investigating “possible civil-rights violations in connection with threats.” The statement from the agency’s Washington headquarters doesn’t characterize the threats.

But the Anti-Defamation League the same day issued a statement citing “a series of bomb threats to Jewish community centers in at least 17 states.”

Death toll in Mali suicide blast rises to at least 60

GAO, Mali

A suicide bomber in an explosives-laden vehicle penetrated a camp in northern Mali on Wednesday, killing at least 60 people and wounding 115 soldiers and former fighters who are trying to stabilize the region. The attack marked a significant setback for peace efforts.

Suspicion quickly fell on the Islamic extremist groups operating in the area that oppose the 2015 peace agreement. A Mauritanian news agency that frequently receives communications from extremist groups, Alakhbar, said a group linked to al-Qaida’s North Africa branch, al-Mourabitoun, had claimed responsibility.

The morning blast hit the Joint Operational Mechanism base in the city of Gao, home to Malian soldiers and hundreds of former fighters who signed the peace agreement with the government. Witnesses said the car breached the camp as hundreds of fighters were gathering for a meeting.

The office of Mali’s president late Wednesday put the provisional death toll at 60, with 115 wounded.

Ice storm paralyzes parts of Oregon, Washington state

TROUTDALE, Ore.

An ice storm shut down major highways Wednesday in Oregon and Washington state and paralyzed towns in the Columbia River Gorge with up to 2 inches of ice at the same time rising temperatures in Portland raised the prospect of flooding after the largest snowstorm in years.

As temperatures hovered around freezing, Interstate 84 was shut down for about 45 miles in an area northeast of Portland and again farther east due to blizzard conditions. Transportation officials had no immediate plans to reopen the highway connecting Oregon and Idaho.

Portland, a city more accustomed to mild, rainy winters, was hit last week by a storm that dumped more than a foot of snow in some areas.

Associated Press