SYRIA

Medical center hit in rebel-held area

DAMASCUS — Missiles struck a medical center in Syria’s northern rebel-held province Saturday, putting the underground facility out of service and killing at least three staff members as well as a person in the vicinity, opposition activists said. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that airstrikes seriously damaged the medical center in Abdin village, in Idlib. International medical charities say Syrian government forces target hospitals, clinics, and ambulances in opposition-held areas. (AP)

Mexico

Federal officers kill two drug traffickers

MEXICO CITY — Two top drug traffickers were killed in predawn shootouts Saturday with federal forces in the northern Mexico border state of Tamaulipas. Julian Loisa Salinas was killed in the border city of Reynosa, across the border from McAllen, Texas. He reportedly led the Gulf cartel there. The leader of the rival Zetas cartel in Ciudad Victoria was killed in a shootout farther south. He was tentatively identified as Francisco Carreon. (AP)

Armenia

Russian is stabbed to death near base

YEREVAN — A Russian soldier serving at a military base in Gyumri was killed in a knife attack Saturday at a store near the base, a regional prosecutor said. Local news reports said a suspect was arrested. Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti, citing the military’s southern command, said preliminary indications were that the attack was sparked by a domestic dispute. (AP)