Jerusalem: Palestinian militant leaders killed in Israeli air strike

Israeli aircraft firing a missile struck a building in the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank late Tuesday, killing two local leaders of Palestinian militant groups, witnesses and doctors said.

They were identified as Alah Sabbagh, of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades militia, affiliated with Yasser Arafat’s Fatah movement, and Imad Nasrti, leader of the Islamic group Hamas in the area. They were in the same room on the first floor of the building when a missile came through the window and exploded, rescue workers said.

The Israeli military had no immediate comment. A few hours earlier, Israeli forces had moved into Jenin, at the northern edge of the West Bank.

Maryland: Task force appointed to award sniper reward

Who gets a piece of the half-million-dollar reward for the capture of the Washington-area sniper suspects may take awhile to decide, authorities said Tuesday.

Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose, who led the investigation into the sniper shootings last month, will head the team that decides who gets the reward.

Moose said Tuesday that officials are “very cognizant” that the reward could create a situation where it appeared a witness was being paid for his testimony.

John Muhammad, 41, and John Lee Malvo, 17, are awaiting trial in Virginia on murder charges. They have been accused of shooting 18 people, killing 13 and wounding five, in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.

Of the $580,244.77 that was raised, $500,000 will be given out as a reward. The rest will go to victims’ families.

Los Angeles: Strong wind starts fires, breaks power lines

Wind gusted to 50 mph across California for a second day Tuesday, spreading dozens of fires in the Sierra Nevada and causing power outages from San Francisco to San Diego.

The wind began to ease in some places by evening, but the National Weather Service said southwest California would be affected by strong gusts through Thursday.

The wind, called the Santa Ana in Southern California, knocked out power to as many as 165,000 customers in and around Los Angeles Monday and Tuesday.

Miami: Cubans found adrift at sea

Six Cubans, including a 13-year-old boy, were detained by immigration authorities after their disabled boat was found at sea, and two men were arrested for allegedly smuggling them to the United States.

The Coast Guard came to the group’s aid after their 21-foot, Florida-registered boat ran out of fuel Monday off Key West, Coast Guard spokesman Luis Diaz said.

The boy and the five other Cubans, including his father, were in the custody of the Immigration and Naturalization Service on Tuesday.

The two men charged Tuesday with alien smuggling were identified as Martin Mendez-Diaz and Elizardo Ruiz-Alvarez, both residents of Florida. The smuggling charge carries a five-year prison sentence.