PARIS

French jihadist arrested for Jewish museum deaths

A suspected French jihadist who spent time in Syria has been arrested in the shooting deaths of three people at a Belgian Jewish museum, prosecutors said Sunday.

Mehdi Nemmouche was arrested in southern France on Friday, in possession of firearms, ammunition and a video claiming responsibility for the May 24 attack at the Jewish Museum in Brussels, a Belgian prosecutor said.

In a one-minute rampage that shook Europe’s Jewish community, a gunman opened fire at the Brussels museum. In addition to the fatalities, another person was gravely wounded.

BAGHDAD

Iraqi death toll for May shows escalating violence

Violence claimed the lives of 799 Iraqis in May, the highest monthly death toll so far this year, the United Nations said Sunday.

The figures issued by the U.N. mission to Iraq put last month’s civilian death toll at 603, with 196 security forces killed. The mission said 1,409 Iraqis, including 1,108 civilians, were wounded. The previous month’s death toll stood at 750, making April the second-deadliest month of the year.

The figures exclude deaths in embattled Anbar province, where militants have controlled parts of the provincial capital Ramadi and nearby Fallujah since December.

NEW YORK

Seven-year-old boy dies, girl wounded in stabbing

Police said a 7-year-old boy is dead and a 7-year-old girl is in critical condition after a stabbing in Brooklyn.

It happened just before 6 p.m. Sunday at a building at 845 Schenck Avenue in East New York.

Police said both kids were stabbed inside an elevator, and were hospitalized at Brookdale University Hospital, where the boy was pronounced dead. Police said a man in his 30s is being sought.

YOLA, Nigeria

Boko Haram suspected after explosion kills dozens

Dozens of people were feared dead after an explosion Sunday in northeastern Nigeria, with Boko Haram militants believed to be behind the attack, officials said.

The attack took place near a primary school where there are also a number of beer halls in the town of Mubi in Adamawa state, one of three states under a year-old emergency rule imposed by President Goodluck Jonathan to fight Boko Haram, which seeks to impose Islamic rule in Nigeria.

The explosion occurred around 6:45 p.m., when many people were headed home to make a 7 p.m. curfew imposed in the wake of earlier attacks.

– From news service reports