Indian court sentences 2 men to death in 1993 Mumbai blasts

An Indian court on Thursday sentenced two men to death and two others to life in prison for a series of bombings that killed 257 people in Mumbai in 1993. A fifth man was given 10 years in prison.

The five men were convicted earlier of criminal conspiracy and murder in the planting of 12 powerful bombs in cars, scooters and suitcases around India’s financial capital.

The sentencing ended a second trial related to the bombings. An initial trial ended in 2007 with more than 100 people convicted, of whom 11 were sentenced to death and the rest to various terms in prison.

Philippines: Troops killed militant blamed for beheadings

Philippine troops battling militants in a central province killed a key Abu Sayyaf commander who had been blamed for the beheadings of two Canadians and a German hostage and was apparently attempting another kidnapping mission, the military chief said Wednesday.

Military chief of staff Gen. Eduardo Ano told The Associated Press that troops have recovered and identified the remains of Moammar Askali, who used the nom de guerre Abu Rami, in the scene of the battle in a far-flung coastal village on Bohol island, where five other Abu Sayyaf gunmen were killed in the fighting Tuesday, along with four soldiers and policemen.

Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt freed from jail in weapons case

Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt said freedom was "the most amazing thing" after he left prison Thursday upon completing his five-year sentence for illegal weapons possession in a case linked to the 1993 terror attack in Mumbai.

Dutt's wife Maanyata and noted filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani greeted the actor as he came out of the prison gate in the western city of Pune. He saluted the Indian national flag at the prison building and thanked fans, including some who came in person to see him, for their support. "There is no easy walk to freedom, my friend," he told reporters before leaving in a chartered plane.

Police arrest 3 men on suspicion of links to Jakarta attack

Indonesians were shaken but refusing to be cowed a day after a deadly attack in a busy district of central Jakarta that has been claimed by the Islamic State group.

In a new development, police on Friday told an Indonesian TV channel they arrested three men on suspicion of links to the attack that killed seven people including five attackers.

AP PHOTOS: French security forces end 3 days of terror

In this Jan. 7, 2015, file photo, an injured person is transported to an ambulance after a shooting, at the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo's office, in Paris. Masked gunmen stormed the offices of a French satirical newspaper Wednesday, killing at least 12 people before escaping, police and a witness said. French police hunted down the two heavily armed brothers suspected in the massacre on Friday.  

India: Pakistani agencies backing terror groups

India's home minister hit out at Pakistan on Saturday, accusing its state agencies of using terror to try to destabilize India, and rejecting Pakistan's assertion that non-state actors are involved in terrorism.

"Pakistan is continuously engaged in destabilizing India, but says non-state actors are behind the acts of terror. I want to ask Pakistan if its Inter-Services Intelligence is also a non-state actor," Rajnath Singh said, referring to Pakistan's national intelligence agency.