In brief: Syrian airstrikes target ISIS town

BEIRUT – Syrian government helicopters and warplanes carried out a series of airstrikes overnight on a northern town controlled by the Islamic State group, killing at least 21 people, activists said Sunday.

The air raids struck the town of al-Bab in Aleppo province late Saturday and lasted through early Sunday morning. The Aleppo Media Center activist collective and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights both reported the attacks.

Observatory director Rami Abdurrahman said there were 10 strikes in total, including seven so-called barrel bombs dropped from helicopters. He said at least 21 people were killed and more than 100 wounded.

The Aleppo Media Center put the death toll at 30, with 85 wounded. Differences in casualty figures are common in the chaotic aftermath of attacks in Syria.

A U.S.-led coalition also is conducting an aerial campaign against the Islamic State group and other extremists in Syria. Washington says it does not coordinate its airstrikes with Damascus.

Private-jet crash in Bahamas kills nine

FREEPORT, Grand Bahama – A small plane crashed Sunday on approach to the island of Grand Bahama, killing all nine people on board, the government of the Bahamas said.

The Lear 36 Executive Jet had taken off from the Bahamian capital of Nassau and crashed while attempting to land around 5 p.m. local time in Freeport, according to a statement from the Ministry of Transport and Aviation.

“The Department of Civil Aviation has been advised unofficially that the aircraft was destroyed and that there were no survivors,” the ministry said.

The crash occurred as people were gathering in Grand Bahama for the 2014 Global Leadership Forum.

The Bahamas Tribune newspaper reported that Myles Munroe, a prominent Bahamian minister who organized the event, was killed along with several people in his entourage.

Chief Supt. Clarence Reckley said he could not confirm the report and that authorities were still trying to determine the identities of the victims.

BARCELONA, Spain – About 1.6 million people in Spain’s northeastern region of Catalonia voted Sunday in favor of breaking away from the country and carving out a new Mediterranean nation in a mock independence poll, but more Catalans stayed away either because of the poll’s questionable legality or their opposition to secession.

Results released early today with 88 percent of votes counted showed that over two million people voted and 1.6 million favored forming a new nation.

But 5.4 million were eligible to vote, meaning many did not bother to participate amid worries about the vote’s lack of legal guarantees and its nonbinding status.

Catalan lawmakers opted for the watered-down poll after plans to hold an official referendum on independence were suspended by Spain’s Constitutional Court.