In brief: Suspicious package at Montreal airport prompts detention
MONTREAL – A 71-year-old man who was headed to Los Angeles was detained after parts of a potential explosive device were found in his carry-on luggage at Montreal’s Trudeau International Airport, police said late Sunday.
The package was spotted at a security checkpoint in the U.S. departures area early Sunday morning, said Jean-Pierre Brabant, a Montreal police spokesman.
The items in the package were not explosives.
“It was different parts of a potential device. To make that a little clearer, let’s say you are trying to do a bomb inside the luggage, but one thing was missing: no explosives, but it was different parts of a dangerous device,” said Ian Lafreniere, another police spokesman.
He didn’t say what specifically the parts were.
The suspect, who had a plane ticket for Los Angeles, was detained but had not yet been questioned or charged, Lafreniere said in an email early today.
Israel to release 26 more prisoners
JERUSALEM – Israel agreed Sunday to release 26 long-serving Palestinian prisoners as part of a U.S.-brokered deal that led to the resumption of Mideast peace talks.
The Cabinet vote set into motion the second leg of prisoner releases agreed upon before Israel and the Palestinians renewed long-frozen peace negotiations in August. At the same time, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is planning on approving new settlement construction to appease hard-liners who oppose the release.
Bomb kills 18 on way to wedding
KABUL, Afghanistan – A roadside bomb in Afghanistan’s eastern Ghazni province killed 18 people and wounded five on their way to a wedding when the minivan they were riding in Sunday triggered the explosion, officials said.
The Interior Ministry said the insurgent attack, which took place in Andar district around 4:30 p.m., killed 14 women, one child and three men, while all five wounded were women.
No group took responsibility for the attack, although the Taliban are active in the area.
In a separate incident, a bomb exploded Sunday morning in the Arzan Qimat neighborhood of eastern Kabul, killing one civilian and wounding five Afghan National Army officers, said Mohammad Zahir Azimy, spokesman for the Afghan Defense Ministry.
In an email sent to journalists, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the group claimed responsibility for the Kabul attack.