Nation and world briefs

The president of a leading Jewish seminary died after the small plane he was piloting crashed about 70 miles northwest of Manhattan. He was identified as Rabbi Aaron D. Panken, 53, of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. The Federal Aviation Administration said an Aeronca 7AC aircraft crashed just after takeoff from Randall Airport in Orange County, N.Y., on Saturday. FAA officials said two people were aboard the plane.

Ground has been broken for a new church in Sutherland Springs six months after a gunman killed more than two dozen people during a Sunday service. Sherri Pomeroy of First Baptist Church said Saturday's groundbreaking was held on the six-month anniversary of the deadliest mass shooting in Texas history to "celebrate the lives that our friends and family lived." Pomeroy's husband is pastor of the church where Devin Patrick Kelley opened fire. Their 14-year-old daughter was among those killed. Authorities put the official death toll at 26.

Pakistan's interior minister narrowly escaped an assassination attempt when a gunman slipped into a small crowd of supporters and colleagues surrounding the minister, firing off a shot that pierced his right shoulder. The attacker was quickly apprehended and the minister, Ahsan Iqbal, taken to a hospital, where he was in stable condition. The shooting, which took place in Punjab Province, left Pakistanis on edge as the country prepares to hold general ­elections as early as July.

A bomb blast inside a mosque in eastern Afghanistan that was being used as a voter registration center killed at least 14 people and wounded 33. "The blast happened while people were busy with prayers, meanwhile in another part of the mosque, people had gathered to get their voter registration cards for the election," said Talib Mangal, spokesman for the provincial governor in Khost. Afghanistan plans to hold elections in October, the first since 2014.

The nation's first national elections in nine years were marked by a tepid turnout Sunday, reflecting voter frustration over endemic corruption and a stagnant economy. Politicians had urged citizens to vote, and security forces struggled to maintain order as fights broke out in and around polling stations.

Police have intercepted a tanker with 131 Sri Lankans believed bound for Australia and New Zealand, smashing a large human smuggling ring that has been operating for a year. Authorities halted the modified tanker off the coast of southern Johor state last week. The syndicate has been operating since mid-2017 and has international connections across Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia and Malaysia, police said.