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Heavily armed men dressed in military fatigues and police uniforms stormed a court building in north-west Honduras and freed a senior leader of the powerful MS-13 gang, officials say.

Alexander Mendoza, known as «El Porky», had just arrived for a trial hearing in El Progreso, escorted by security forces, when the attack took place.At least four officers were killed and three others were wounded.

MS-13 is one of the most violent criminal groups in Central America.

President Juan Orlando Hernández offered a reward of 2 million lempiras (£62,000; $80,000) for information that leads to Mendoza’s recapture.

Police said at least 20 gunmen took part in the operation on Thursday afternoon in El Progreso, around 30km (18 miles) east of Honduras’ second city, San Pedro Sula. One of the suspects also died in the attack.

A video said to be from the court’s CCTV, and aired by Honduras’ HCH broadcaster, shows a handcuffed man wearing a white tank top, believed to be Mendoza, being carried into the building by security forces. Moments later, armed men wearing similar uniforms arrive and force people into rooms.

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A former Russian prison service official has killed himself in court after he was sentenced to three years in jail, Russian media report.

Viktor Sviridov was at one time the head of the federal prison service’s motor transport department. He was convicted of extorting 10m roubles (£121,000; $155,000) from the service’s former deputy director.

Moments after the judge ordered he be taken into custody, Sviridov shot himself in the head.

A court spokeswoman quoted on Russian news site RBC says he is thought to have brought the gun into the court himself.

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Two people have been stabbed in Manchester city centre.

Officers were called to reports of an assault near Morrisons supermarket in Piccadilly Gardens at 12:10 GMT.

One man has been taken to hospital with injuries not thought to be life threatening and another was treated at the scene for minor injuries, a police spokesperson said. The force added it was thought to be a «targeted attack» and there was no threat to the wider community. No arrests have yet been made.

Eyewitness Gemma Hepworth, 36, said there was «blood everywhere». «I came out and there were two men on the floor. Morrisons staff were coming out with bandages, and people were asking if we knew anyone who could perform first aid.

«I offered my scarf and everyone was trying to help. Some people were crying.»

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Two US troops as well as an Afghan soldier have been killed in an attack in eastern Afghanistan.

Nine people were injured in the attack in Nangarhar province on Saturday.

«Reports indicate an individual in an Afghan uniform opened fire on the combined US and Afghan force with a machine gun,» US military spokesman Col Sonny Leggett said.

Some 13,000 US troops remain in Afghanistan after the US intervention to oust the Taliban in 2001.

«We are still collecting information, and the cause or motive behind the attack is unknown at this time,» Col Leggett said in a statement.

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The United States has killed the leader of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), President Donald Trump said.

Qasim al-Raymi, who has led the jihadist group since 2015, was killed in a US operation in Yemen, the White House said.

The jihadist leader had been linked to a series of attacks on Western interests in the 2000s. He took over the leadership after his predecessor was killed by a US drone strike.

AQAP was formed in 2009 from two regional offshoots of Al-Qaeda in Yemen and Saudi Arabia, with the goal of toppling US-backed governments and eliminating all Western influence in the region.

Rumours of Raymi’s death began circulating in late January. In response, AQAP released an audio message with Raymi’s voice on 2 February in which he said AQAP was behind a deadly shooting at a US naval base in Pensacola, Florida.

The shooting took place in December, and the message may have been recorded earlier.

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