PAKISTAN
Arrests made over attack in Kashmir
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s Interior Ministry said Tuesday that authorities have arrested dozens of suspects in the wake of last month’s suicide bombing in Indian-controlled Kashmir that killed 40 Indian troops, as well as the brother of the leader of the outlawed Jaish-e-Mohammad militant group.
The arrests were apparently aimed at easing tensions between Pakistan and India that escalated after the Feb. 14 suicide attack.
In Tuesday’s statement, the ministry said authorities arrested 44 suspects, including at least two prominent members of the outlawed militant group, which claimed responsibility for the attack that pushed the neighboring countries close to an all-out war over contested Kashmir last week. Among those arrested was Mufti Abdul Rauf, the brother of the group’s leader, Masood Azhar.
According to the ministry, Rauf was among a list of suspects in a file on last month’s bombing that India gave to Pakistan over the weekend through diplomatic channels, urging Islamabad to take action against suspects linked to the killing of its soldiers in the region, which is split between Pakistan and India .
MEXICO
Residents block police raids on fuel cartel
MEXICO CITY — Townspeople allegedly paid by a criminal group burned cars and trucks to block a police raid on a fuel-theft gang in north-central Mexico, according to Guanajuato state prosecutors.
The blockade occurred Monday in the town of Santa Rosa de Lima, which is home to a heavily armed gang that drills illegal taps into government pipelines. Police found pay envelopes with the gang’s stamp and a legend that read: “Relatives should be prepared to protest when asked to do so.”
Prosecutors said police finally got into the town, seized guns, fuel tanks and drugs and freed six kidnap victims.
They said that the town’s municipal force did nothing to help; in Mexico, local police are ill-paid and are frequently bought off by gangs.
GERMANY
Swiss release new version of banknote
It’s purple and yellow, and very valuable: Switzerland’s central bank has unveiled a redesigned version of its 1,000-franc ($1,000) note.
The Swiss National Bank said Tuesday the overhauled version of its highest-denomination note is “smaller and thus easier to handle” than its predecessor, as well as incorporating “complex security features.” The note, featuring a handshake on one side and the Swiss parliament on the other, will go into circulation starting March 13.
The 1,000-franc note is a longstanding tradition in cash-friendly Switzerland.
BRITAIN
Counterterrorism police look at 3 devices
LONDON — Three small explosive devices in plastic mailing bags arrived at offices of two London airports and at a train station Tuesday, and Irish police said they were helping British counterterrorism police with the investigation.
London’s Metropolitan Police Service said the devices found near London’s Heathrow and City airports and at Waterloo Station “appear capable of igniting an initially small fire when opened.” A staff member did unseal the bag sent to an office building on Heathrow’s grounds, “causing the device to initiate,” police said.
Part of the package burned, but no one was injured, police said.
The Heathrow property is where the first of the three explosive devices was discovered at about 9:55 a.m.
PUERTO RICO
Nat’l Guard to rush food, gas to islands
SAN JUAN — Puerto Rico’s governor activated the National Guard on Tuesday to rush food, medicine and gasoline to the popular tourist islands of Vieques and Culebra following a major breakdown in transportation that critics say could have been avoided.
The announcement came after ferries that supply the two islands some 20 miles east of Puerto Rico recently broke down, cutting an important lifeline to the roughly 11,000 people who live there.
Gov. Ricardo Rossello said the first shipments would arrive late Tuesday and that the National Guard would continue its mission until the situation improved and the ferries were fixed.
The Associated Press
