CAIRNS, Australia

Plea of woman charged with killing 8 kids rejected

A judge on Monday rejected a plea by lawyers for an Australia woman charged with killing eight children to have the next hearing held in a mental health court.

Mersane Warria, charged under her full name of Raina Mersane Ina Thaiday, is facing eight counts of murder in the deaths of seven of her children and her niece, whose bodies were found inside her northern Australia home last week.

Police were called to the home in the Cairns suburb of Manoora on Friday morning after receiving a report of a woman with serious injuries. When they got to the house, they found the bodies, along with Warria, who was suffering from stab wounds to the chest.

PARIS

Security ramped up after driver slams car into crowd

A driver deliberately slammed his car into crowds around the city of Lyon in southeastern France on Sunday, raising concerns at a time when Islamic extremists are calling for attacks in France.

The Sunday night rampage came a day after a knife attack on police in another French town that counter-terrorist police are investigating. The government said the motive for Sunday’s attack was unclear. The government stepped up security measures for police and other authorities.

In Sunday’s incident, police arrested the out-of-control driver after he injured at least 11 people, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

JAKARTA, Indonesia

Magnitude-6.6 quake strikes Indonesia’s coast

A strong earthquake struck off the coast of eastern Indonesia on Sunday evening, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage, and authorities said there was no threat of a tsunami.

The magnitude-6.6 quake was centered 98 miles west of the town of Tobelo, which is on the island of Halmahera, the U.S. Geological Survey said. .

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria

Boko Haram video shows gunmen shooting civilians

A new video from Nigeria’s home-grown Boko Haram extremists shows gunmen mowing down civilians lying face down in a dorm, and a leader saying they are being killed because they are “infidels” or non-believers.

There are so many corpses the gunmen have difficulty stepping to reach bodies still twitching with life. Most appear to be adult men.

“We have made sure the floor of this hall is turned red with blood, and this is how it is going to be in all future attacks and arrests of infidels,” the group leader says in a message. “From now, killing, slaughtering, destructions and bombing will be our religious duty anywhere we invade.”

– From news service reports