Arrests after 15 killed in Chinese 'gambling' blast

At least 15 people have been killed in an explosion in a village in southern China's Guizhou province as they gathered to gamble, China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported, citing local officials and police.
Eight people were injured in the blast, which occurred on a remote mountain slope in Laoshan village, near the city of Kaili on Monday afternoon. They were in a stable condition on Tuesday.
Xinhua said that eight suspects had been detained, including three who surrendered themselves to local police.
The cause of the blast wasn't immediately reported. An investigation was under way, according to Xinhua.

Massachusetts Gas Station Explodes After Driver Smashes Gas Pump

An 83-year-old driver plowed through a Massachusetts gas station Monday, knocking over an attendant and causing an explosion after also hitting a gas pump.
The unidentified driver accidentally hit the gas pedal instead of the brake as he made his way into the gas station in Walpole, Mass., around 11 a.m., Monday, according to authorities.
"I heard this big bang, you know, and then I looked at my TV camera and I see a ball of fire," station owner John Nassar said.
Nassar's brother grabbed a fire extinguisher to put out the flames but they were so big that it took three canisters to do the job.
Nassar also saw one of his employees, a gas station attendant, being thrown nearly 30 feet into the air before landing near the side of the road. The employee was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital but was uninjured in the accident, according to authorities.
Nassar said he does not plan to file charges.
"I'm sure he didn't mean it," Nassar told the Wicked Local Walpole. "That's why it's called an accident."

Artillery Shell Explodes, Kills 10 in NW Pakistan

A Pakistani government official says an explosion has killed 10 members of a family in a remote tribal region in the country's northwest along the Afghan border.

Tahir Khan says Monday's explosion was from a suspected artillery shell that stored in the house in the village of Dars in the Tirah Valley. The valley is located in the Khyber tribal region.

Khan says the dead included women and children.

The valley had been a hotbed for Islamic militants until the Pakistan army captured it last year in fierce fighting.

Pakistani villagers in tribal regions have been known to keep remnants of exploded munitions and even unexploded shells in their homes, which has caused similar incidents in the past.

2nd body found in Minneapolis apartment building's charred remains

A second body was found Friday in the remains of a three-story Minneapolis apartment building where an explosion and fire happened Wednesday, the Minneapolis Fire Department said.
The explosion, which happened on the morning of New Year's Day at 516 Cedar Ave. S., injured at least 14 other people, officials have said. Many of of the injuries suffered were burns or came from falls or jumps from windows, said Robert Ball, a spokesman for Hennepin County Emergency Medical Services.
The fire's cause still is under investigation. The fire department said a gas leak could be a potential cause, but it could be weeks before a determination is made.
Firefighters found the first body Wednesday while they were removing debris. The explosion was reported about 8:15 a.m., and the building was soon engulfed in flames, officials said.

Palestinian diplomat killed in explosion in Prague

A Palestinian diplomat died Wednesday of injuries from an explosion possibly related to improper handling of a safe inside his house in the northern Prague neighborhood of Suchdol, police said.

Police identified the victim as Jamal al Jamal, 57. He died after he was taken to Prague Military Hospital and placed in an induced coma.

"Experts have determined that the explosion occurred when a safe in the ambassador's living room was opened," Prague Police spokeswoman Andrea Zoulova told CNN. "The explosion was most likely caused by dangerous or unqualified manipulation with the safety box by the ambassador himself. The explosive device was probably part of the safety mechanism of the safe."

She added that authorities found evidence of explosives in the debris.

However, police said the investigation was ongoing; a glitch in the system might have caused the explosion, or the device could have been wrongly set.

But Zoulova stressed that the incident was not related to terrorism. "There is not a single piece of evidence that would suggest this was a terrorist attack," she said.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry announced that the explosion occurred minutes after al Jamal had opened an old safe that had been moved from the old diplomatic mission to his two-story house, which was being readied to house the new diplomatic mission.

In a statement, the ministry said it would send a high-level delegation to Prague on Thursday "to communicate and to cooperate with the Czech (Republic) in the investigation to determine the cause of the explosion."

The house was newly constructed, according to CTK, a state-run news agency.

The blast, which occurred at about 12:30 p.m. (6:30 a.m. ET), also injured al Jamal's 52-year-old wife, who was taken to Motol Hospital after inhaling smoke and suffering from shock, said Jirina Ernestova, a spokeswoman for Prague Emergency Services.

The couple's son, who was also in the house at the time of the blast, was not hurt, police said.

Al Jamal had been a diplomat in the Czech Republic since last October, according to CTK.

Three dead in Egypt clashes

 Backers of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood battled police in Cairo and other cities after Friday prayers. At least three people died and 265 were arrested, the Interior Ministry said.

The ministry blamed the deaths on the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist group that the Egyptian government declared a terrorist organization on Wednesday.

The government has threatened to arrest anyone who attends Muslim Brotherhood protests or provide financial support to the group, which helped propel ousted President Mohamed Morsy to power.

Morsy, the nation's first democratically elected president, was forced out of office in July by the nation's military and arrested following widespread protests and petitions calling for his removal.

 

Detractors said he was a tyrant trying to impose conservative values. Supporters called his removal a coup and a blow to the democratic movement that toppled former Egyptian strongman Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

Since Wednesday's declarations, hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood supporters have been arrested.

EgyNews, a state-run news agency, previously reported the Interior Ministry had told police to confiscate copies of the group's newspaper and seal off the publishing house that prints it.

The unrest comes as Egyptians prepare to vote a new constitution next month.

The proposed constitution would ban religious political parties and put more power in the hands of the military.

The Muslim Brotherhood has vowed to continue protesting.

"Let's begin with full force and peacefulness a new wave of majestic anti-coup action in a 'Revolutionary Rage' week," the group said Thursday on its website.

2 Dead in Russian Car Explosion

At least two people have been killed in the explosion of an automobile in a main city of Russia's restive North Caucasus region.

The state news agency RIA Novosti cited a spokeswoman for the regional Investigative Committee, Yekaterina Danilova, as saying two people were known dead in the Friday evening blast in Pyatigorsk.

The explosion took place near a traffic police station. News reports said investigators had not determined the cause of the blast and the victims had not been identified.

Bombings and other attacks occur frequently in the North Caucasus, where violence has spread following two separatist wars in Chechnya.

Pyatigorsk is the center of a federal administrative district created to oversee Kremlin efforts to stabilize the region, which is just east of Sochi, site of February's Winter Olympics.