Washington, D.C.

Convictions of Bin Laden aide are thrown out

A civilian appeals court on Monday vacated two convictions of a former aide to terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden. In a split decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit concluded a military commission lacked authority to convict Ali Hamza Ahmad Suliman al-Bahlul of two out of three charges. Military prosecutors charged al-Bahlul with conspiracy to commit war crimes, providing material support for terrorism and solicitation of others to commit war crimes. A military commission convicted him of all three crimes and sentenced him to life imprisonment.

Virginia

Charges in Target case that got security officer fired

Leesburg, Va., police say they will seek charges in an alleged shoplifting case in which a Target security officer said he lost his job when he reported the incident. The police also said the suspect was "positively identified as a Fairfax Sheriff's Office employee" and that they had notified the Sheriff's Office of the allegations May 30, three days after a second alleged incident at the Target store on Edwards Ferry Road in Leesburg.

Colorado

Man infected with airborne plague

A rare airborne form of the plague that can spread through coughing and sneezing has infected a Colorado man, and state health officials are searching for other possible cases. The man, who hasn't been identified, is infected with pneumonic plague.

California

911 operators help end standoff that killed three

Two 911 operators were praised for bringing a peaceful end to an armed standoff that began after three people were shot to death and two others wounded in a neighborhood in California. During a 20-minute phone call, Pasadena emergency services operator Diane Marin persuaded the caller to surrender, as another operator relayed information to officers who surrounded the house where he was holed up, authorities said. Marin told a news conference that the man called Saturday and said, " 'I killed someone." ' Police say John Izeal Smith, 44, also opened fire at officers and fired a total of 40 bullets before going back inside the house and calling 911.

Washington, D.C.

3 percent in U.S. identify as gay, survey finds

Less than 3 percent of the U.S. population identify themselves as gay, lesbian or bisexual, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Tuesday in the first large-scale government survey measuring Americans' sexual orientation. The National Health Interview Survey, which is the government's premier tool for annually assessing Americans' health and behaviors, found that 1.6 percent of adults self-identify as gay or lesbian, and 0.7 percent consider themselves bisexual. The overwhelming majority of adults, 96.6 percent, labeled themselves as straight in the 2013 survey.

Korean Peninsula

North Korea fires rockets near border with South

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un flexed his military muscles again, as his country fired more than 100 rockets and artillery shells into the sea near the border with South Korea, just a day after firing two ballistic missiles over the peninsula. Some traveled as far as 30 miles and landed within one mile of the Northern Limit Line, the countries' de facto maritime border, but did not cross into southern waters, said Um Hyo-sik, a spokesman for South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff. his father, Kim Jong Il.

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