PAKISTAN
Mosque bombing kills 24
A suicide bomber attacked a Sunni mosque in northwest Pakistan on Friday, killing at least 24 worshippers and wounding 28 others, officials said. Several children were also among those killed or wounded in the deadly attack. The attacker shouted “God is Great” as he entered the mosque in the village of Ambar in Pakistan’s Mohmand tribal region, government administrator Naveed Akbar told the Associated Press. He said rescuers had transported the dead and wounded to nearby hospitals, where some of the wounded were listed in critical condition. Akbar said about 200 worshippers were inside the mosque at the time of attack.
ITALY
Former president dies at 95
Former Italian Prime Minister and President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, a highly respected economist who helped usher in the euro as treasury minister, died on Friday. He was 95. Ciampi’s death, after a long illness, was confirmed by the Italian Senate, where he served as senator for life. Ciampi served as premier of Italy in 1993-1994, when he headed postwar Italy’s first technocratic government during the sweeping “Clean Hands” corruption probe that reshaped the country’s political landscape. He also held the presidency from 1999-2006 and was governor of the Bank of Italy for 14 years.
France
Men arrested in gang-rape
French officials say three men have been charged and jailed after a woman was allegedly lured on Facebook by one of them and then gang-raped near the Eiffel Tower. A police official said Friday that three Algerian men were arrested earlier this week in a Paris hotel under suspicion of taking part in the rape of the French woman in the Champ-de-Mars garden, close to the famous tower. The official says one of the men is suspected of chatting with the woman on Facebook before the alleged rape and then arranging a date with her in Paris.
Peru
Fire destroys historic church
A fire has ruined much of a famed 16th century church in the Peruvian city of Cuzco, authorities said Friday. The blaze that burned into Friday morning destroyed the ornate, gilded altar and about two dozen paintings at the Temple of San Sebastian. The fire department said the cause of the blaze is under investigation, but a short circuit is suspected.
Compiled from wire reports