SYRIA
Strike kills people at market
An airstrike hit the biggest market on the rebel-held side of Syria’s Aleppo on Wednesday, killing at least 15 people and leveling buildings as rescuers were still sifting through the rubble from air raids that killed dozens the day before. Activists and a witness said the early afternoon strike destroyed several shops in the besieged eastern part of the city, which has been the target of a Russian-backed Syrian offensive since the collapse of a cease-fire last month. The latest strikes have shattered a relative three-day lull in the area, where hospitals, underground shelters and buildings had been targeted for weeks.
Bermuda
Hurricane Nicole nears island
Heavy wind and rain began battering Bermuda late Wednesday as the British territory braced itself for Hurricane Nicole, which became a major Category 3 storm as it tracked toward the tiny island in the northern Atlantic Ocean. The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said the storm is expected to pass near or over Bermuda on Thursday morning. Nicole was about 210 miles south-southwest of Bermuda late Wednesday. It had maximum sustained winds of 115 mph. The storm could strengthen even more as it approaches Bermuda, forecasters said.
Afghanistan
Bomb kills several civilians
A bomb targeting Shiite worshippers in northern Afghanistan killed at least 14 civilians on Wednesday, an official said. Regional police spokesman Sarwar Hussaini said 26 others were wounded in the attack, which targeted the group as they were leaving a mosque following ceremonies to commemorate Ashoura, a major religious observance for Shiites. Munir Ahmad Farhad, spokesman for the governor of Balkh province, said the bomb appeared to have been remotely detonated. Meanwhile, the death toll from a Tuesday night attack on Kabul’s biggest Shiite shrine rose to 17 people.
GERMANY
Suspect dies in prison cell
A 22-year-old Syrian man arrested in Germany for a suspected bomb plot killed himself Wednesday in a prison cell in Leipzig, Saxony’s state Justice Ministry said late Wednesday. Ministry spokesman Joerg Herold said Jaber Albakr killed himself sometime in the evening, but that the incident was still being investigated. German authorities have said they believe Albakr had links to the Islamic State group and was thought to be planning to attack a Berlin airport, possibly as soon as this week.
Compiled from wire reports.