Investigators have found components consistent with a bomb in a suspicious package that forced an evacuation of Canada's defense ministry headquarters, police said Wednesday. The package was found Tuesday on the Mackenzie King Bridge near the defense ministry, prompting authorities to close the bridge and adjacent downtown streets just before the start of the evening rush hour traffic. "The suspicious package was removed by a robot and detonated," Defense Minister Peter MacKay said in a statement.

By Scott Malone and Samuel P. Jacobs BOSTON (Reuters) - Thousands of law enforcement agents from around the country plan to attend a memorial on Wednesday for a campus police officer who authorities say was slain by the accused Boston Marathon bombers, and Vice President Joe Biden is slated to speak at the ceremony. The service at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology honours 26-year-old Sean Collier, who police say was shot and killed by Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on the MIT campus on Thursday night.

US investigators Tuesday told how two suspected pressure cooker bombs sprayed nails and metal pellets into Boston marathon crowds, killing three people and injuring more than 180. But with no claim of responsibility made and police not committing to blaming foreign or domestic militants, Boston harbored widespread questions about the perpetrators as the city and the nation paid tribute to the dead. US President Barack Obama condemned Monday's attack at the marathon finish line as "an act of terror." He will attend a special service for the victims in Boston on Thursday.

Kabul, Apr 8 (EFE).- At least nine civilians died and another 22 were wounded Monday when their bus ran over a land mine in the central Afghan province of Wardak, a police official told Efe. The mine was detonated in the Sayed Abad district around 8:20 a.m., the deputy director of provincial police, Quraishi, said, adding that a woman was among the dead. He said the explosive device had been planted recently by the Taliban, but Efe was unable to confirm the statement since no spokesperson of the insurgent movement could be contacted.