Authorities: Suspects were in France before Spain attacks; NEWS BRIEFING; Tribune Newspapers and news services; Army suspends drill sergeants in Ga. amid sex assault claims; U.N. panel urges U.S. to reject racist hate speech and crimes ; Park service issues permit for group’s rally in San Francisco; Push to oust Mo. lawmaker over assassination post; Study: Toxic water putting 50M at risk in Pakistan valley

MADRID - Some of the Spain terror suspects spent a night in France a week before the fatal attacks in and near Barcelona, French authorities said Wednesday as police in Spain revealed they found a suicide bomb belt in the house where the attackers tried to make explosives.

An Audi A3 car observed Aug. 11-Aug. 12 in France is the same one involved in the attack carried out in the town of Cambrils in the early hours of Aug. 18, anti-terrorism prosecutor Francois Molins said. A woman was killed there, and police fatally shot five suspects.

In Spain, police disclosed that a belt charged with explosives was among the evidence discovered in the rubble of the house south of Barcelona. An explosion there on the eve of the deadly Barcelona van attack derailed the suspects' initial plans to bomb city sites, according to court documents.

Six of the attackers shot dead by police - the five in Cambrils and one Monday - were wearing fake suicide belts.

Thirteen people were killed Thursday when a van zig-zagged through Barcelona's Las Ramblas promenade. A 14th was stabbed to death by the van's driver as he made his getaway. A 15th victim was killed when the Cambrils attackers drove the Audi onto a pedestrian path.

Meanwhile, police in the Dutch port city of Rotterdam detained the driver of a van with Spanish license plates and a number of gas tanks inside after a concert by Los Angeles band Allah-Las was canceled Wednesday following a threat.

A counterterrorism official later said the driver is not connected to the vehicle attacks in Spain.

Army suspends drill sergeants in Ga. amid sex assault claims

WASHINGTON - The Army has sidelined numerous drill sergeants at its training center at Fort Benning, Ga., amid allegations of sexual assault against at least one trainee, the service announced.

The cases are under investigation by Army Criminal Investigation Command and the service's Maneuver Center of Excellence, Army officials said. The investigation began after a female trainee accused a drill sergeant of sexual assault, and it expanded after that allegation "revealed indications of additional allegations of sexual misconduct involving trainees and drill sergeants," the Army said. It declined to say how many drill sergeants are under investigation.

The case marks the latest black mark against military drill instructors. Most recently, the Marine Corps has faced allegations of hazing and abuse at Parris Island, S.C.

U.N. panel urges U.S. to reject racist hate speech and crimes

GENEVA - A top U.N. body on racial discrimination has urged the United States to "unequivocally and unconditionally" reject racist hate speech and crimes after a far-right rally in Charlottesville, Va. Committee chairwoman Anastasia Crickley also called for President Donald Trump to take the lead.

The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination pointed Wednesday to "the failure at the highest political level to unequivocally reject racist violent events" in the United States.

Crickley said Trump should take the lead in speaking out.

Trump on Tuesday blamed the media for the widespread condemnation of his response to violence linked to the Aug. 12 protest, which included an observation that "many sides" were to blame.

Park service issues permit for group's rally in San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO - Federal authorities have approved a politically conservative group's application to hold a rally Saturday in San Francisco on Saturday.

The park service said denying Patriot Prayer a permit would violate the organization's free speech rights. San Francisco's mayor, U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein and U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi were among the Democratic politicians who had called on the federal agency to reject the permit.

The park service issued its permit with several restrictions, including banning large signs, selfie sticks and other items that could be used as weapons.

Patriot Prayer said the rally is in support of free speech and that hate groups aren't welcome. Extremists have, however, attended previous Patriot Prayer events.

Push to oust Mo. lawmaker over assassination post

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - Backlash continues after a Missouri state lawmaker temporarily posted a comment on Facebook in which she expressed hope that President Donald Trump would be assassinated.

Republican Lt. Gov. Mike Parson sent a letter to legislators this week asking for a special session to oust Democratic Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal. The St. Louis-area lawmaker has resisted calls to resign for posting the comment last week that said: "I hope Trump is assassinated!"

Parson's request for a special session came hours after Republican and Democratic state Senate leaders removed Chappelle-Nadal from all of her legislative committee assignments.

She has since apologized. GOP Gov. Eric Greitens have said senators should oust her from office. Expelling her would require a two-thirds vote.

Study: Toxic water putting 50M at risk in Pakistan valley

ISLAMABAD - Some 50 million people are at risk of arsenic poisoning from contaminated groundwater in Pakistan's Indus Valley - far more than previously thought, according to a new study.

Pakistan is aware of the growing problem, with arsenic levels rising in some areas as people increasingly and indiscriminately draw from the country's underground aquifers, said Lubna Bukhari, who heads the government's Council for Research in Water Resources.

"It's a real concern," she said. "Because of lack of rules and regulations, people have exploited the groundwater brutally, and it is driving up arsenic levels."

The authors of the study developed a map highlighting areas of likely contamination based on water quality data from 1,200 groundwater pumps tested from 2013 to2015.

A boat carrying 70 people sank on the Xingu River in northern Brazil, leaving at least 10 dead and dozens missing, authorities said Wednesday. The public security office of the state of Para said 15 people made it to shore and that 10 bodies were found. The rest were missing. Authorities said the boat sank late Tuesday.

Angolans voted in an election in which Defense Minister Joao Lourenco is the front-runner to succeed President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who will step down after 38 years. About 9.3 million Angolans were registered to vote for the 220-member National Assembly; the winning party will then select the president.

Caption: A displaced boy from Raqqa, the de facto capital of Islamic State's self-styled Islamic caliphate in Syria, sips water before heading to the first day of school Tuesday at a camp in Ain Issa. Thousands have fled Raqqa during a coalition offensive to retake the city.

DELIL SOULEIMAN/Getty-AFP