World briefs

CHINA A strong earthquake that hit a sparsely populated, mountainous area of western China has killed at least five people and injured 54 others, including schoolchildren in a stampede, officials say.

PORTUGAL Former Portuguese Prime Minister José Socrates has been detained by police as part of an investigation into corruption, money-laundering and tax fraud, Portugal’s Attorney-General’s office said Saturday.

PHILIPPINES Five years after gunmen flagged down a convoy of cars and massacred all 58 occupants, including scores of journalists, in a southern Philippine province, the body count continues to rise. Just days before the Philippines marked Sunday’s anniversary of the carnage with prayers and calls to end impunity, another potential witness in the ongoing trial against the politically powerful suspects was gunned down.

ALBANIA A gigantic, secret bunker that Albania’s communist regime built underground decades ago to survive a nuclear attack by the Soviet Union or the United States has been opened to the public for the first time.

KENYA One gunman shot from the right, one from the left, each killing the non-Muslims lying in a line on the ground. When the shooting stopped, 28 people who could not recite an Islamic creed were dead following the massacre by Somalia’s extremist rebels.

IRAQ Teenagers carrying weapons stand at checkpoints and busy intersections in Iraq’s second largest city, Mosul. In the Syrian city of Raqqa, boys attend training camp and religious courses before heading off to fight. The Islamic State group is actively conscripting children for battle and committing abuses against the most vulnerable at a young age.

AFGHANISTAN U.S. troops in Afghanistan may once again engage Taliban fighters, not just al-Qaida terrorists, under new guidelines quietly approved by President Barack Obama, administration officials say.

GERMANY A watercolor of Munich’s old city hall believed to have been painted by Adolf Hitler a century ago was sold for 130,000 euros (USD162,000) at an auction in Germany on Saturday.

USA  Barricades surround the building where a grand jury has been considering whether to indict the Ferguson police officer who shot and killed 18-year-old Michael Brown.