A man stabbed a woman and then was shot by a security guard at Washington's Union Station on Friday, sending people fleeing outside as trains were briefly stopped and officers converged on the massive transit hub.
	"I saw people running, and I just started running. It sounded like it was right next to me," said Ursula Lauriston, a 28-year-old magazine editor who was ordering lunch at Jamba Juice, one of dozens of restaurants and shops in the station. "... People were completely confused as to what was going on, and no one knew whether to run or hide."
	The incident came on the 14th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, but police said there was no apparent connection between the two.
	"Obviously, with this being 9/11, fears were heightened and escalated," DC police Commander Jeff Brown said. But officials said they believe the incident was the result of a domestic dispute.
	The security officer a private security guard associated with the Securities and Exchange Commission, ..

Police: Man shot by guard at US capital's rail station

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Jurors hearing the federal trial of an Alabama police officer who slammed an Indian man to the ground returned said Friday they are at an impasse, but a judge ordered them to keep deliberating.
	Madison police officer Eric Parker is charged with violating the civil rights of Sureshbhai Patel, 58, when he slammed the man to the ground during a suspicious person investigation in February.
	Defense attorney Robert Tuten has said the confrontation was an unfortunate escalation of police tactics and not a criminal offense.
	Parker has said Patel resisted officers multiple times and he took the man to the ground out of concern for his safety and that of a second officer who was on the scene.
	Patel has denied resisting and said through an interpreter that he didn't understand Parker because he doesn't speak English.
	Video showed Patel turning to look at Parker while his hands were behind his back just before he was slammed to the ground and seriously injured.
	Patel had traveled from India 

Jury deliberating in police officer's trial after stalemate

The federal government ran up a much smaller budget deficit in August than a year ago, remaining on track to record the smallest annual deficit in eight years.
	The Treasury Department said Friday that the deficit in August totaled USD 64.4 billion, a drop of 50 per cent from the same month a year ago.
	Much of that improvement reflected quirks in timing related to the calendar. Some USD 42 billion in August benefit payments were made in July because August 1 fell on a Saturday.
	Through the first 11 months of this budget year ending September 30, the deficit is running 10 percent below last year's level. The Congressional Budget Office is forecasting that the deficit for the full year will drop to USD 426 billion, down 11.8 percent from the previous year as a stronger economy brings in more tax revenue.
	The 2014 deficit was an improvement from a deficit of USD 679.5 billion in 2013. For the four years before 2013, the deficit ballooned to annual deficits above USD 1 trillion, ...

US budget deficit drops to USD 64.4 billion in August

Donald Trump spokesman Michael Cohen confirmed the Republican presidential hopeful has purchased NBC's half of the Miss Universe Organization and settled all lawsuits against the media company.
	The move, which Trump announced on Twitter, gives him full ownership of the Miss Universe and Miss USA pageants and completes a divorce begun in June when NBC announced it was ending its business relationship with Trump, who had starred on the network as host of "The Celebrity Apprentice."
	The network had said it was severing ties with Trump because of comments he made about Mexican immigrants during the announcement of his presidential campaign.
	At the time, NBC said it would no longer air the annual Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants, and Trump sued.

Donald Trump says he's bought 100 percent of Miss Universe

Two days of airstrikes by a Saudi-led coalition targeting Yemen's Shiite rebels killed seven civilians in the country's capital, Sanaa, independent security and health officials said today.
	The strikes targeted camps and weapons depots used by the rebels, known as Houthis, which are located near residential areas in the city, the officials said. The death toll included those killed on Friday and Thursday, they said.
	In the stricken area, many residents had fled their homes for safer neighborhoods, away from rebel posts, while others have left the rebel-held Sanaa entirely, according to those who stayed behind.
	"We've lived a night full of fear," said Ammar Badawy, a resident of western Sonayna neighborhood where the Saudi-led airstrikes hit an air force academy, also controlled by the Houthis.
	"The windows and doors in my house came off and were destroyed from the sheer power of the explosions," Badawy said.
	Another Sanaa resident, Hoda Saleh, said she, her husband, and their ...

Saudi-led airstrikes and rebel shelling kills 35 in Yemen

A US man who claimed in online forums to have inspired terrorists in Australia and Texas was arrested after telling an informant how to build a homemade bomb to attack a 9/11 memorial in Missouri, according to a criminal complaint.
	Joshua Ryne Goldberg, 20, was arrested and charged with distributing information relating to explosives, destructive devices and weapons of mass destruction, the US Attorney's Office said Thursday.
	Goldberg, of Florida, began communicating online with an FBI informant in July, giving information on how to build a bomb using a pressure cooker and shrapnel dipped in rat poison, according to the complaint.
	Goldberg instructed the informant to place the bomb at a memorial in Kansas City, Missouri, commemorating the 14th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks, the complaint says. No bomb was produced.
	Goldberg, claiming to be in Perth, Australia, said he thought a pressure cooker bomb would be the best option and suggested attacking a 9/11 memorial ..

Man charged in plot to bomb Sept 11 memorial in Missouri

A British court today sentenced seven men to prison for raping and sexually abusing babies and young children and sharing the abuse online through pictures and live videos.
	The men, who lived across Britain, preyed on the families of children to gain access to them. They were convicted of 29 child sex abuse offenses, including multiple rape of a child under 13, conspiracy to rape, sexual assault, and making and showing indecent images of children.
	Handing down the sentences at Bristol Crown Court, Judge Julian Lambert said the men had engaged in "some of the most depraved and grossly deviant behavior imaginable."
	"Your thoughts and deeds are beyond human instinct and reason, and are evil beyond rational understanding," Lambert said.
	The men, aged 31 to 51, were handed prison sentences of two to 24 years.
	The National Crime Agency began investigating in September 2014 when one of the men admitted to police that he had sexually abused a child under 5 years old. The probe was then ..

UK: 7 men sentenced for rape, abuse of children and babies

Two days of airstrikes by a Saudi-led coalition targeting Yemen's Shiite rebels killed seven civilians in the country's capital, Sanaa, independent security and health officials said today.
	The strikes targeted camps and weapons depots used by the rebels, known as Houthis, which are located near residential areas in the city, the officials said.
	The death toll included those killed in the last two days, they added, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk to journalists.
	In the stricken area, many residents had fled their homes for safer neighborhoods, away from rebel posts, while others have left the rebel-held Sanaa entirely, according to those who stayed behind.
	"We've lived a night full of fear," said Ammar Badawy, a resident of western Sonayna neighborhood where the Saudi-led airstrikes hit an air force academy, also controlled by the Houthis.
	"The windows and doors in my house came off and were destroyed from the sheer power of the ...

Saudi-led airstrikes kill 7 civilians in Yemeni capital

Pakistan's prime minister said today that Turkmenistan will begin construction on a much-delayed gas pipeline stretching from Central Asia to South Asia by the end of the year, a project that once completed is expected to help his energy-starved Islamic nation overcome the shortage of natural gas in the years to come.
	Nawaz Sharif told a meeting of business leaders in Islamabad that he would travel to Turkmenistan in December for the project's ground-breaking ceremony, which is also to be attended by other South Asian leaders as. The pipeline is to be built in four years, he added.
	Sharif did not give further details about the project, known as TAPI, an abbreviation for the four countries involved: Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.
	An official at Turkmengaz, the state natural gas company in Turkmenistan, confirmed that all exploration and prospecting work is to be completed by Dec. 10. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to ..

Pakistan: Work on delayed gas pipeline to start this year

The UN chief is taking aim at sexual abuse by peacekeepers, calling it "one of my greatest disappointments" and saying he will repatriate the troops of countries that don't act on allegations.
	The UN has already started to suspend payments to countries when allegations are credible.
	Ban Ki-moon's statements are in response to the first comprehensive assessment of peacekeeping in 15 years and largely agree with a high-level panel's suggestions for a major overhaul.
	The UN has more than 105,000 troops and police in 16 missions in some of the world's most dangerous places. Member states contribute the personnel and receive monthly payments in return.
	The report with Ban's response was intended for public release Friday, but The Associated Press found it on a UN website yesterday.
	It comes as President Barack Obama prepares to host a major UN meeting later this month aimed at drawing European and other developed countries back to peacekeeping with their funding and skills in ...

UN chief says will repatriate peacekeepers over sex abuse

One socially conservative Michigan lawmaker was expelled from office and another resigned early today after they rocked the Legislature with an extramarital affair and a botched attempt to conceal it with a fictional, sexually explicit email.
	Republican Rep. Cindy Gamrat became just the fourth legislator to be kicked out in state history shortly after 4 a.M. An hour earlier, Rep. Todd Courser resigned, effective immediately, when it became clear that majority Republicans had secured enough support from Democrats for his expulsion by promising to ask the attorney general and state police to investigate the lawmakers.
	Both were immediately escorted from the chamber.
	"I put everybody through a whole bunch across the state, my own family, the constituents, the people in this room," Courser told reporters. "Whether it was the third vote or the fourth vote or the fifth vote, they were going to eventually get me."
	Gamrat, who was tossed on a 91-12 vote, declined comment as she left the ..

1 lawmaker expelled, another resigns after affair cover-up

A juvenile court has convicted a high school student of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and sentenced him to more than 11 months in jail.
	The sentence was immediately suspended today, and the student would serve time only if he reoffends in the next three years.
	The 16-year-old was briefly arrested in the city of Konya in December for calling Erdogan a thief during a student rally.
	The boy can only be identified by his initials, MEA due to Turkish laws protecting minors.
	He is one of the youngest among dozens of people, including celebrities and journalists, to be prosecuted under a previously seldom-used law that bars insults to the president.
	Free speech advocates say the law is being used aggressively to muffle dissent.

Turkish teen gets suspended sentence for insulting Erdogan

Thai authorities today cast a wider net in the search for the perpetrators of the August 17 bombing in Bangkok that killed 20 people, asking China to check whether a prime suspect had fled there.
	Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said today that he did not know whether China would hand over the suspect if or when he was arrested. Police have suggested a man carrying a Chinese passport in the name Abudureheman Abudusataer may have directed the bombing of the Erawan Shrine.
	The man, also known by the nickname Izan or Ishan, reportedly left Thailand on August 16 for Bangladesh and then China.
	However, police spokesman Prawut Thavornsiri quoted Bangladesh's ambassador as saying that the suspect left Bangladesh on August 30 and was supposed to transit in Delhi on his way to China but never got to his final destination.
	The envoy, Saida Muna Tasneem, told police that the suspect obtained a visa for Bangladesh in Bangkok.
	Prawut said Thai authorities contacted their Bangladeshi ...

Thailand asks China to look for suspect in deadly bombing

Jet engine parts found on the Las Vegas runway where a British Airways flight aborted takeoff as the engine burst into flames indicate a rare catastrophic failure, experts said as investigators released preliminary findings and began analysing flight data and cockpit recordings.
	Early findings show the failure occurred where the engine was under the highest pressure, though there was no immediate indication of what caused it or the fire that forced 170 people to evacuate Tuesday at McCarran International Airport as smoke poured from the aircraft.
	"You really don't see catastrophic or uncontained engine failure like this very often," said John Cox, an aviation safety consultant who spent 23 years as a US Airways pilot. He said yesterday that the failure indicates parts sliced through the engine casing.
	The National Transportation Safety Board said there was damage to the armored shell around the left engine's high-pressure compressor, and several 7- to 8-inch fragments of the ...

Jet engine parts on Las Vegas runway indicate major failure

France will refund 950 million euros (USD 1 billion) to Russia for the cancellation of the sale of two Mistral-class warships, but won't have to pay penalties.
	In a bill going to France's lower house of Parliament next week, the government details the agreement reached with Russia last month.
	According to the text, the "only condition" laid down by Russia is to receive the money "as soon as possible." Then, France will be able to sell the warships to another country.
	Egypt and Saudi Arabia are reported to be on top of the list of potential purchasers.
	The 1.2 billion-euro (USD 1.3 billion) deal was canceled last year because of the Ukrainian crisis. It was supposed to be the biggest arms sale ever by a NATO country to Russia.

France to refund USD 1 billion to Russia for warships

A Polish explorer claims he has found massive underground structure in southwestern Poland that, he says, the Nazis built as a nuclear shelter for Hitler.
	Krzysztof Szpakowski told a news conference today he has "no doubt" as to his find, which he says was based on evidence that he has gathered for decades, including witness statements, old documents and an examination of the area by ground-penetrating radar and by dowsers.
	Speaking on TVN24, Szpakowski said the structure was part of a system of railway tunnels and corridors that the Nazis were building during World War II around the city of Walbrzych. His conference was hosted by Walbrzych regional authorities.
	Two other men claim they have fund another tunnel at a separate location in Walbrzych that contains a Nazi train.

Polish explorer says he's found alleged Hitler nuke shelter

One US Marine has been killed and 18 others were injured in a rollover crash during routine training.
	First Lt. Colleen McFadden says the rollover happened last afternoon.
	McFadden says the Marine was from the 1st Marine Division, and the person's name will not be released until 24 hours after relatives are notified.
	Other details including the type of vehicle and the extent of the injuries were not immediately released.
	McFadden says "we want to ensure the Marines and their family members are being provided for during this difficult time."
	The accident happened at Camp Pendleton, a vast seaside base north of San Diego that is the major West Coast outpost for the US Marine Corps.
	In 2013, four Marines were killed there while clearing explosives in a training area.

US Marine killed, 18 injured in rollover at California base

A Seoul court today handed a 12-year prison sentence to a South Korean man who slashed and seriously injured the US ambassador during a March forum.
	Kim Ki-jong was convicted of attempted murder, assaulting a foreign envoy and obstruction, according to court spokesman Joon Young Maeng.
	Both Kim and the prosecution have one week to determine whether to appeal, Maeng said. Prosecutors had previously asked for a 15-year prison term.
	Kim slashed Mark Lippert during a breakfast forum in Seoul, leaving deep gashes on the envoy's face and arm. Lippert was treated for five days at a Seoul hospital.
	Kim has described himself as an anti-US activist. He told police that his assault was meant to protest US-South Korean military drills but that he did not intend to kill the ambassador.
	The drills, which are meant as a deterrent against North Korean attack, are a major source of friction on the Korean Peninsula. Pyongyang says they are meant as practice for a northward invasion to topple the ..

South Korean man gets 12 years for slashing US ambassador

Five family members, including three children, were found dead in their lakeside home in what police said appeared to be a murder-suicide.
	Police in an upscale suburb of Minneapolis went to check on the family after no one was seen or heard from in days, South Lake Minnetonka Interim Chief Mike Siitari told The Associated Press.
	Siitari wouldn't release any information on how the family members died but said there appeared to be "no threat or danger to the community."
	The children had not been in school for the past two days, Siitari said. The request to check on the family came from a co-worker of the father, he said.
	Authorities did not release the identities of those killed, but the father's business posted a notice online identifying Brian Short and his family as the victims.
	Siitari said the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office was processing a "complex crime scene."
	Aerial footage from KSTP-TV showed an upscale home in Greenwood, a village of about 700 people on the shore of ..

Police: 5 family members found dead in US home

Armed groups in conflict-torn Central African Republic are looting schools, threatening teachers and students, and stealing food and education kits destined for youngsters, an international network of human rights groups said.
	The Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict said in a new report yesterday that the mostly Muslim Seleka rebel coalition and the anti-Balaka Christian militia have stripped some schools bare, taking doors, desks, roofs, books and office materials.
	In recent months, it said, they have been targeting newly rehabilitated schools, disrupting efforts to resume education in the impoverished nation.
	The report also criticized African Union, French and UN peacekeeping troops for establishing temporary bases in school facilities, but it noted that fewer incidents were reported in recent months.
	The Watchlist conducted a five-week research mission to four areas in Central African Republic to investigate the high number of attacks and military use of schools, ...

Report: Rebels loot schools in Central African Republic

An estimated 70,000 rape kits sitting in laboratories and evidence collection rooms across the country will be tested with a combined USD 79 million in federal and New York City funds designed to cut the backlog of untested DNA evidence in 27 states, officials announced today.
	"There's nothing more consequential than giving a woman back her life," said Vice President Joe Biden, after touring the New York City medical examiner's testing lab with Attorney General Loretta Lynch, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr and "Law & Order: SVU" actress Mariska Hargitay.
	The White House will contribute USD 41 million toward the effort, supporting not just testing efforts but also funding auditing and training for localities on police and forensic best practices.
	Vance, who secured USD 38 million in asset forfeiture money, said he hopes tested cases will lead to convictions and, in turn, restore faith in the justice system for sexual assault victims.
	Rape kits are actually a series ...

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