New York
Two marshals, cop wounded in shootout
A California man who skipped town after being accused of molesting a child was killed and three law enforcement officers trying to arrest him were wounded in a daytime shootout inside a New York City smoke shop. The suspect, wedding photographer Charles Richard Mozdir, was recently featured on a CNN show about fugitives. He was wanted in a San Diego case and charged with five counts of lewd acts upon a child younger than 14, according to a criminal complaint.
Tennessee
Memphis workers call in sick to protest
Police and firefighters in Memphis are calling in sick by the scores as a new Tennessee law kicks in requiring cities to stop shortchanging workers' pensions. Their beef: Memphis' plan to comply. Tennessee's largest city, which for years has failed to save enough to support promised retirement checks, plans to make up that sum by eliminating retirees' health insurance, which has fewer legal protections.
Washington, D.C.
Castro sworn in as new HUD secretary
Former San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro was sworn in as head of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The official ceremony makes Castro one of the highest-ranking Hispanics in federal government. The brief observance took place at HUD headquarters.
U.S.: Russia violated 1987 missile treaty
The Obama administration has accused Russia of violating a key arms control agreement by testing an intermediate-range nuclear cruise missile. The tests, which U.S. officials have said began as early as 2008, have been a point of contention between the two countries for at least a year. The U.S. raised the issue with the Russians last year, but it did not formally accuse Russia until Monday. The treaty, signed by President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, eliminated a class of nuclear missiles from Europe.
Afghanistan
U.S. failed to track weapons, report says
The Pentagon has shipped Afghan security forces tens of thousands of excessive AK-47 assault rifles and other weapons since 2004, and many have gone missing, raising concerns that they've fallen into the hands of Taliban or other insurgents. John F. Sipko, the U.S. special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction, found in a report that shoddy record-keeping by the Defense Department, the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police has contributed to the failure to track the small arms.
Libya
Tripoli fuel depot fire endangers civilians
Libyan officials warned of growing dangers to civilians from a large and spreading fire in a fuel depot near Tripoli's international airport, which was sparked by fighting in the area between militias armed with heavy weapons. Two storage tanks containing petroleum fuel were set ablaze, with the fire engulfing one tank, sending flames hundreds of feet into the air. The depot contains more than 15.5 million gallons of petroleum and diesel fuel, and potentially explosive canisters of liquid gas, said Mohamed al-Harari, a spokesman for Libya's National Oil Co. Firefighters had been withdrawn from the area because of the risks from the continuing fighting.
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