Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Sixty people are now confirmed dead, with 300 others wounded, in a bomb attack on a park in the Pakistani city of Lahore. Officials in Punjam province have announced three days of mourning. A police officer says the explosion took place near children's rides as the area was crowded with Christians celebrating the Easter holiday. Authorities believe it was a suicide bombing.
MOSCOW (AP) — Russia says it will help remove mines from the Syrian town of Palmyra (pahl-MEER'-uh) -- which was recaptured today from Islamic State militants by Syrian troops, with the help of Russian airstrikes. A Kremlin statement says President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone today with the head of a U.N. cultural agency, and promised "maximum assistance." The militants inflicted significant damage on Palmyra during their occupation, destroying some of the site's most notable structures, including the 2000-year-old Temple of Bel.
PARIS (AP) — France's prime minister says the European Championship soccer tournament will go ahead as planned, despite the attacks in Paris last November and Brussels last Tuesday. With Europe on high alert following the attacks, there are concerns that the event in France from June 10-July 10 could be targeted, and especially the fan zones where spectators gather to watch games on large screens. The French prime minister says seven to eight million fans are expected to visit the open-air areas and that authorities will ensure their safety with strengthened security measures.
MEDICINE LODGE, Kan. (AP) — Firefighters dealing with the biggest wildfire in Kansas history got a welcomed Easter assist -- from pre-dawn snow that blanketed the hardest-hit area. The National Weather Service says about a half an inch of precipitation in the form of rain and snow fell early today southwest of Wichita. And about a third of the fire has now been contained. It has scorched more than 620 square miles in Oklahoma and southern Kansas.
NEW YORK (AP) — Novelist Jim Harrison has died. He wrote with affection for the country's landscape and rural life, and enjoyed mainstream success with his historical saga "Legends of the Fall." His publisher says Harrison -- who was also a poet and outdoorsman -- died yesterday at his home in Arizona at the age of 78.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
