INKSTER, Mich.

Police allege suspect shot girl, 2, to torture her father

A man accused of killing a 2-year-old Detroit-area girl shot her in front of her father to torture him, state police said Thursday.

The comments from Lt. Michael Shaw came after Raymone Jackson, 24, of Inkster appeared in court on a first-degree murder charge and was denied bail.

“He was going to kill the child in front of this guy and then kill him afterward so that it would be the last thing he sees,” Shaw said.

The girl, identified as Kamiya French, was shot in the head Tuesday on the porch of an Inkster home. Police believe it was retaliation for a shooting in April. Her father, Ken French, 34, and a family friend, 12-year-old Chelsea Lancaster, were also shot and are in a hospital.

KIEV, Ukraine

Ukraine president names defense minister, general

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko shook up his faltering military Thursday, appointing a new defense minister and top general while speaking angrily about the years of decay and corruption that left the forces unable to deal effectively with the well-armed eastern insurgency.

His tougher tone, analysts say, reflects public pressure to continue the fight against the insurgents in the regions bordering Russia.

Poroshenko denounced the “complete collapse” of the government’s ability to supply the armed forces, in a speech in parliament.

He won approval for his choice of former top police official Valery Heletey as defense minister. He also tapped Yury Kosyuk, an agriculture magnate and one of Ukraine’s richest men, to oversee defense issues in his adminisration and to help “purge the army of thieves and grafters.”

COMANCHE, Texas

Trailer full of fireworks explodes, killing 1, injuring 3

A trailer loaded with fireworks exploded Thursday near a Texas high school, killing one person and injuring three other people who were setting up for a Fourth of July show, authorities said.

It’s unclear what triggered the explosion near a baseball field in Comanche, southwest of Fort Worth, a fire department spokesman said. The trailer was hooked to a pickup truck. Members of the Kiwanis Club were setting up the fireworks for a Friday celebration. One club member died at the scene, and three others were hospitalized with serious injuries, authorities said.

CAIRO

Demonstrations, bombings mark anniversary of ouster

A series of demonstrations and small bombings marked the anniversary on Thursday of the ouster of Egypt’s President Mohammed Morsi, and authorities responded by arresting nearly 200 people as part of their crackdown against Islamists.

One of the bombs went off accidentally in an apartment outside Cairo, killing two suspected militants who were handling the explosives, the Interior Ministry said.

Late Thursday, a homemade bomb went off on a train in Egypt’s second city, Alexandria, injuring five passengers, another official said.

– From news service reports