National news in brief

Hostages released from high school

MARINETTE, Wis.

A student armed with a handgun burst into an eastern Wisconsin high school classroom at the end of the school day and held nearly two dozen students and a teacher hostage for more than five hours Monday, authorities said.

The office of Emergency Management Director Eric Burmeister said all 23 students and one female teacher, who had acted as a mediator between the male hostage-taker and authorities, were released unharmed about 8 p.m. No shots were fired.

The office didn’t immediately release information about the status of the gunman.

Bush appears on Facebook broadcast

DALLAS

Former President George W. Bush has pledged not to publicly criticize his successor, Barack Obama, but he did offer some praise Monday during a live broadcast on Facebook to promote his new book.

Bush participated in an hour-long discussion on Facebook Live with the site’s founder and chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, and was asked what he thought the current administration was handling well. The former president responded that he liked Obama’s policy on Afghanistan.

“I think the idea of putting more troops in was something that I can applaud,” Bush said. “I also appreciate some of the education position. As I understand it, they do believe strongly that accountability is necessary in order to achieve excellence in the classrooms.”

As the discussion started, Zuckerberg asked Bush why he decided to appear on Facebook. Bush quipped: “Because you’ve got a lot of people paying attention to us, and I’m trying to sell books.”

Congress delays Medicare cuts

WASHINGTON

Congress agreed Monday to a one-month delay in Medicare-payment cuts to doctors, giving a short-term reprieve to a looming crisis over treatment of the nation’s elderly.

The House, in approving by voice vote the bill passed by the Senate earlier this month, postponed a 23 percent cut in doctors’ pay scheduled to take effect Wednesday. That gives lawmakers a month to come up with a longer-term plan to overhaul a system that in recent years has bedeviled Congress, angered doctors and jeopardized health care for 46 million elderly and disabled.

“This bill is a stopgap measure to make sure that seniors and military families can continue to see their doctors during December while we work on the solution for the next year,” said Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., chairman of the Energy and Commerce health subcommittee.

US service members killed by policeman

KABUL, Afghanistan

An Afghan border policeman killed six American servicemen during a training mission Monday, underscoring one of the risks in a U.S.-led program to educate enough recruits to turn over the lead for security to Afghan forces by 2014.

The shooting in a remote area near the Pakistani border appeared to be the deadliest attack of its kind in at least two years.

Walmart greeter, 100, shoved down

MILWAUKEE

A 100-year-old greeter at a Milwaukee Walmart was shoved by a customer after the centenarian tried to stop the woman to determine if she’d paid for items that were in the lower part of her shopping cart, police said Monday.

Greeter Lois Speelman fell down and went to a hospital after she was shoved Sunday.

Associated Press