WORLD BRIEFS

CANADA: 16 counts for shooting suspect

Richard Henry Bain, 62, the suspect in a deadly shooting at a rally following the election of Quebec's new separatist premier was arraigned Thursday on 16 charges, including murder, attempted murder and possession of explosives. Bain, of La Conception, Quebec, is accused of opening fire at a midnight victory rally Tuesday for the new premier, Pauline Marois of the Parti Québecois. After firing his gun, he was said to have used a flare to light a fire. Denis Blanchette, 48, was shot dead and a 27-year-old was wounded just outside a Montreal theater.

SRI LANKA: $13G diamond swallowed

A man visiting a gem exhibition in Colombo swallowed a 1.5-carat diamond in front of the owner and was taken by police to a hospital, where an X-ray showed the $13,000 stone inside him. Exhibitor Suresh Wijekoon said the man was behaving suspiciously and when he approached him, the man swallowed the diamond at his hand. Chou Wan, 32, from China, is in custody for further investigation, police said.

COLOMBIA: No cease-fire, FARC told

President Juan Manuel Santos rejected a proposal last night by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, to observe a cease-fire during peace talks due to begin next month in Norway. Leaders of Colombia's main leftist rebel movement had said hours earlier in Cuba that their first item on the negotiations' agenda would be to propose a truce in the half-century of fighting that has killed tens of thousands. Santos said that would not happen. The military and the police have been instructed to intensify actions against the rebels, he said.

TURKEY: Munitions blast kills 25

An explosion and fire triggered by the accidental dropping of a hand grenade killed 25 soldiers during a stock check at an ammunition depot, the government said. Four other soldiers were injured in the blast late Wednesday near the town of Afyonkarahisar, western Turkey.