Suicide bomber blows up in Beirut raid
BEIRUT -- A suicide bomber blew himself up in his room at a Beirut hotel Wednesday as Lebanese security forces raided the premises, security officials said.
The blast toward the end of evening rush hour took place inside the Duroy Hotel. Lebanese security forces, who detained a second suspected bomber in the sweep, sealed off the area around the hotel.
The bombing is the latest in a string of attacks and security scares in Lebanon over the past week that have raised fears of renewed violence in a country that has been deeply affected by the civil war in neighboring Syria.
Saqr Saqr, Lebanon's military prosecutor, said three security officers were wounded in the explosion during the raid. Afterward, the hotel was being searched "to see if there are more explosives," he said.
Lebanese Interior Minister Nohad Machnouk said that the raid was a "preventative strike" by authorities and that the "suicide bomber was going to detonate himself elsewhere and they managed to stop him." He said the suspect in custody was wounded and was under guard at American University Hospital in Beirut.
Palestinians end 63-day hunger strike
JERUSALEM -- Dozens of Palestinian prisoners on Wednesday ended a 63-day hunger strike over detentions without charges after they reached a deal with Israeli prison authorities, a Palestinian official said.
Since 2012, Palestinian prisoners have staged a series of hunger strikes, sometimes as individuals and sometimes in larger groups, to protest "administrative detention," a policy that can keep some prisoners in custody for months or years without charges. Israel has defended the practice as a necessary tool to stop militant activity.
About 5,000 Palestinians are imprisoned in Israel for purported offenses ranging from rock throwing to deadly attacks. Of those, some 190 are administrative detainees. Another 143 Palestinians detained in recent raids also have been held under the policy.
Qadoura Fares, an advocate for Palestinian prisoners, said the deal to end the latest hunger strike will allow the prisoners to stay in the hospital until they recover. Once they are back in prison, "Israel ends punitive measures against them," he said, including limiting visits by family members and the removal of televisions and other amenities from their jail rooms.
U.S. prisoner's suicide feared in Cuba
HAVANA -- The wife and lawyer of Alan Gross, a U.S. government subcontractor serving a 15-year prison sentence in Cuba, said Wednesday that they fear for his life even more after his mother's death from cancer last week.
In Havana to visit her husband, Judy Gross again urged Washington to do whatever is necessary to secure Alan Gross' release after more than four years behind bars.
"I am extremely worried that Alan is going to do something drastic now that his mother is gone," she said in a statement.
During his time in prison, Alan Gross has lost more than 100 pounds, is losing vision in his right eye and "both of his hips are failing," the statement read.
"I am extremely worried that Alan is becoming more despondent every day," said Scott Gilbert, the Grosses' U.S. lawyer. "Both governments need to know that Alan plans to end his life in an effort to end this agony."
U.S. and Cuban officials did not have immediate comment.
Gross was arrested in 2009 while working to set up unauthorized Internet networks for the island's Jewish community on a contract with the U.S. Agency for International Development, a government entity. Cuba considers such programs an affront to its sovereignty.
N. Korea calls Hollywood film 'act of war'
SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea on Wednesday warned against the release of a Hollywood comedy film about a plot to assassinate its leader, Kim Jong Un, calling the movie an "act of war."
"If the United States administration tacitly approves or supports the release of this film, we will take a decisive and merciless countermeasure," a spokesman for the North Korean Foreign Ministry said.
The spokesman did not elaborate on what North Korea's retaliation might be. But he accused Washington of "provocative insanity" in mobilizing a "gangster filmmaker" to defile the country's supreme leader, and he reported "a gust of hatred and rage" among its citizens and soldiers.
In The Interview, scheduled to be released in October, actor James Franco plays a talk-show host and Seth Rogen his producer. According to the plotline, the two head to North Korea for an exclusive interview with Kim, then the CIA drafts them to kill him.
A Section on 06/26/2014
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