Gunman wounds 2 at Pentagon subway

Gunman wounds 2 at Pentagon subway

WASHINGTON

Law-enforcement officials said they’ve got one person in custody and were investigating whether a second was involved in a shooting at Pentagon subway entrance.

A gunman opened fire at the teeming subway entrance to Pentagon complex Thursday evening, wounding two military police officers before being shot, a spokesman said.

Authorities said all three were taken to a hospital. Chris Layman, a spokesman for the Pentagon Force Protection Agency, said the two officers and gunman were not thought to have life-threatening injuries, although the suspect’s wounds were more serious.

Taliban commander arrested in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD

Pakistan’s intelligence agents have arrested a senior Afghan Taliban commander, the latest move in a crackdown against the insurgent network in Pakistan.

Agha Jan Mohtasim, a former finance minister for the Taliban before the U.S-led invasion in 2001, was detained in the southern city of Karachi, two intelligence officials said Thursday.

Hand sanitizers tainted with bacteria

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico’s government sent inspectors across the island Thursday to stop stores from selling locally produced hand sanitizers tainted with dangerous bacteria.

The products were made by Puerto Rico Beverage Inc. of Maunabo. A recent U.S. Food and Drug Administration inspection of the plant found serious problems with manufacturing practices.

Puerto Rican officials said the company closed the plant after the inspection, and the whereabouts of company executives had not been determined.

Turkey recalls envoy over genocide vote

WASHINGTON

A congressional panel has approved a resolution declaring the killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I was genocide.

In Turkey, the government said it was recalling its ambassador from Washington in response.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee endorsed the resolution with a 23-22 vote Thursday, even though the Obama administration had urged Congress not to offend Turkey by approving it.

The resolution now goes to the full House, where prospects for passage are uncertain.

Imam pleads guilty to lying to FBI

NEW YORK

An imam linked to the suspects in an aborted suicide bomb plot against New York City pleaded guilty Thursday to lying to the FBI — a deal sparing him serious jail time but forcing him to leave the country.

A tearful Ahmad Afzali told a judge in federal court in Brooklyn that he had wanted to help authorities in the investigation of the threat but lied under grilling by the FBI about his phone conversations with admitted al-Qaida associate Najibullah Zazi.

Under the plea deal, Afzali faces up to six months behind bars at sentencing April 8. It also requires the Afghanistan-born defendant to leave the country within 90 days after completing the sentence or face deportation.

Dining out declines

NEW YORK

Dining out declined in the United States for the first time in more than three decades last year, according to a consumer survey taken by a market-research firm.

Restaurant visits in 2009 nationwide showed a 3 percent decline for the year compared with the previous year, the NPD Group survey said.

The American dining dip of 2009 affected not only high-end eateries but also casual and fast-food establishments, the survey found.

Combined dispatches