Day Break Weekly News

  BENI, Congo -- A suicide bomber attacked a restaurant and bar Saturday as patrons gathered on Christmas Day, killing at least six others in an eastern Congolese town where Islamic extremists are known to be active. Heavy gunfire rang out shortly after the bomb went off, with panicked crowds fleeing the town's center. Saturday's attack marked the first known time that a suicide bomber has killed victims in eastern Congo, where an Islamic State group affiliate earlier this year took responsibility for a suicide bombing near another bar in Beni who had caused no other casualties. The latest violence only deepens fear that religious extremism has taken hold in a region already plagued for years by rebels. Gen. Sylvain Ekenge, spokesperson for the governor of North Kivu, said that security guards had blocked the bomber from entering the crowded bar and so the person instead detonated the explosives at the entrance. “We call on people to remain vigilant and to avoid crowded areas d...

  Bangladeshi authorities have buried 23 unclaimed bodies after a day-long search failed to recover more victims or survivors of a massive fire on a crowded river ferry that left 40 people dead DHAKA, Bangladesh -- Bangladeshi authorities buried 23 unclaimed bodies on Saturday after a day-long search failed to recover more victims or survivors of a massive fire on a crowded river ferry that left 40 people dead. Habibur Rahman, a top government official, said he had an incomplete list of 17 missing people who were on board the ferry on Friday when the fire awoke passengers around 3 a.m., forcing many to leap into cold waters and swim ashore. Divers looked for more survivors before suspending their efforts at sunset on Saturday. Rahman said 50 people were being treated in two hospitals, while 19 others have been sent home. Dr. Samanta Lal Sen, chief coordinator of the Sheikh Hasina National Burn and Plastic Surgery Institute in Dhaka, said his hospital was treating 15 people for seri...