Terrorism suspected in Russia bus explosion
Rostov-On-Don, Russia
A passenger bus caught fire and exploded in Russia’s troubled North Caucasus Thursday, killing at least five people and wounding 12, emergency and police officials said.
Investigators said they considered terrorism the likely cause. The incident took place in the North Ossetia region, which is plagued by violence from feuding criminal groups, remnants of separatist fighters from neighboring Chechnya and other militant groups that target government and police.
The incident comes less than two weeks before the country holds parliamentary elections that are turning out to be a referendum on the near-eight-year presidency of Vladimir Putin. Beslan, in North Ossetia, was the site of a 2004 school hostage seizure that resulted in the deaths of more than 330 people. Putin used the 2004 Beslan seizure and a series of other terrorist attacks as justification for pushing through sweeping changes to election laws and increasing the surveillance powers of police agencies.
Nairobi, Kenya
Somali appoints charity official
Somalia’s embattled president named a respected humanitarian official as prime minister Thursday in a bid to shore up his failing government and address what the United Nations says is Africa’s worst refugee crisis.
The nomination of Nur Hussan Hussein, a longtime official with the Somali Red Crescent Society, came three weeks after the former prime minister resigned under heavy criticism over the government’s inability to establish control over the country in the face of a yearlong, Islamist-led insurgency.
Hussein’s appointment, which is expected to be approved by the parliament within days, was hailed by the United States and its Western allies, which helped to push the inexperienced former prime minister, Ali Mohammed Gedi, out of his job. Diplomats had been lobbying President Abdullahi Yusuf to name someone who could win wider support in Somalia’s deeply clan-oriented society. Like Gedi, Hussein is a member of the Abgal clan, and his appointment figures to pacify that influential group.
Port Moresby,
Papua New Guinea
Earthquake hits in South Pacific
A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.7 rocked eastern Papua New Guinea on Thursday, causing some damage and plunging parts of the coastal city of Lae into darkness, officials and witnesses said.
No casualties were reported in the South Pacific archipelago nation.
Kandahar, Afghanistan
7 police die, 6 missing in Taliban attack
Taliban militants killed seven policemen after overrunning their checkpoints in southern Afghanistan today, a police officer said. A purported Taliban commander said the officers were beheaded.
The officer, Abdul Hakim Jan, said six other officers were missing after the militants attacked police checkpoints in Arghandab district, in Kandahar province.
The attack in the strategic area of Arghandab, 15 miles north of Kandahar city, comes weeks after Afghan and foreign troops forced the Taliban to relinquish control of the town. The militants had briefly captured the town after the death of tribal leader Mullah Naqib, who had kept the insurgents out of his region.
Also
Aquino killing pardon: Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has pardoned one of 16 soldiers convicted in the 1983 murder of former Sen. Benigno Aquino, a turning point in Philippine history. Master Sgt. Pablo Martinez was pardoned after reaching the age of 70 and spending 24 years in prison.
Fever outbreak: An outbreak of Rift Valley Fever in Sudan has killed 164 people, the World Health Organization said Thursday.
Seattle Times news services