Around the world
BOMBING: A truck bomb exploded east of Algiers, Algeria, on Sunday, killing at least six people, injuring 83 others and destroying a police station and nearby apartment building. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but suspicion fell on militants who have been waging an insurgency since January 1992 to topple the military-backed government and install strict Islamic rule.SMOG ALERT: Even the pope prayed for showers Sunday as a smog alert across Italy forced officials to block traffic and issue health warnings. "Maybe the rain will come. We'll see," Pope John Paul II at the end of his weekly address in St. Peter's Square. Weeks of dry and stagnant weather have pushed pollution rates to unhealthy levels.
ROCKY START: After three decades of single-party rule, Tanzania's first multiparty elections got off to a troubled start Sunday, with some polling stations missing ballots and opening late. An estimated 9 million voters were eligible to choose among four presidential contenders and 1,311 candidates from 13 parties for 230 legislative seats. Hand-counted results were expected in a couple of days, but the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi party was expected to retain the presidency and a majority in parliament.
Across the nation
PROBE: A weapon recovered near a sniper's ambush at Fort Bragg, N.C., was bought at a Maryland shop that federal and state officials say has provided guns connected with numerous crimes, a government source in Washington said Sunday. The owner of the gun shop was arrested Sept. 27 after an investigation on charges of having an expired firearms license and selling weapons without having conducted the required background checks.
RIOT: More than 100 inmates demanding to be returned home to North Carolina went on a rampage in a private prison in Mason, Tenn., smashing toilets and sinks and knocking a hole in a dormitory wall. Guards at the West Tennessee Detention Facility ended the riot Saturday night by pumping pepper gas into two dormitories seized by the prisoners. The inmates were moved to the Shelby County jail in Memphis, about 40 miles away. There were no deaths, injuries or escapes during the two-hour uprising.