World in brief: Teacher accused of abuse arrested
A three-year global manhunt for a Canadian schoolteacher suspected of sexually abusing Asian boys ended Friday when police raided a house in northeastern Thailand and arrested Christopher Paul Neil.
Police tracked Neil to the house in Nakhon Ratchasima province that he shared with a Thai friend.
Neil, who surrendered peacefully, was found though high-tech police work that relied on digitally unscrambled photos and tips from the public after an unprecedented worldwide appeal via the Internet.
“I think he knew we were coming,” said police Col. Paisal Luesomboon.
He said Neil, 32, acknowledged being the man they were seeking, but didn’t comment on whether he was the person depicted in about 200 Internet photos having sex with a dozen different boys between the ages of 6 and 12.
Johannesburg, S. Africa
Reggae star Dube killed by gunmen
South African reggae star Lucky Dube was shot to death in an apparent carjacking attempt, prompting grief and anger Friday in a country whose high crime rate has claimed several famous victims in the past year.
Dube, 43, had just dropped off his son in a Johannesburg suburb Thursday night when gunmen attacked, shooting him in front of the son and a daughter, according to news reports. He was declared dead at the scene. Police say they are searching for three suspects.
Most South Africans learned the news Friday morning through reports that dominated the front pages of newspapers. Radio shows alternated songs from Dube’s more than 20 albums along with fond remembrances from fans and angry denunciations of the country’s violent crime.
Dube rose to international prominence during the last years of apartheid with songs that often carried political and social themes.
Manila, Philippines
Bomb in mall kills 9, injures at least 100
A powerful blast ripped through three floors of a shopping mall in the heart of Manila’s financial district Friday, killing nine people and wounding more than 100, authorities said.
Police bomb investigators told President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo at a cabinet security meeting covered live on local radio that they had detected the high explosive RDX at the site of the blast.
“It’s a bomb, but as to what kind of bomb, we are still trying to determine,” said national Police Chief Avelino Razon. “Likely it’s a terrorist attack, but what terrorist group, we have no indicator.”
Al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf militants have waged a years-long bombing campaign in the southern Philippines in their aim to establish a separate state for the majority Muslims in the region. Abu Sayyaf and the Indonesia-based Jemaah Islamiyah network have also launched attacks in Manila.
The Friday afternoon explosion at the glitzy Glorietta 2 mall toppled roofs, destroyed walls, and sent debris crashing onto cars outside.