Putin dominates G-7 in absentia

Putin dominates G-7 in absentia

BRUSSELS

Russian President Vladimir Putin was kept out of Wednesday’s summit of world leaders but dominated the meeting as President Barack Obama and his counterparts from the G-7 group of major economies sought the Kremlin chief’s renewed cooperation to end the Ukraine crisis.

French President Francois Hollande said the meeting sent a clear signal of unity by urging Russia to help stabilize the situation in Ukraine, while keeping the threat of further sanctions on the table.

In faraway Moscow, Putin seemed to shrug off the snub of having not been invited to Brussels, but declared he was still open to “dialogue.”

Soldier’s hometown cancels celebration

HAILEY, Idaho

Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl’s hometown abruptly canceled plans Wednesday for a welcome-home celebration, citing security concerns over the prospect of big crowds — both for and against the soldier.

The town of 8,000 has been swamped with hate mail and angry calls over Bergdahl, whose release after five years of Taliban captivity in Afghanistan has touched off a debate over whether the 28-year-old should be given a hero’s welcome or punished as a deserter.

Meanwhile, the Taliban released a 17-minute video of his handover showing a thin, tense-looking Bergdahl being patted down for explosives by U.S. forces before climbing aboard an American helicopter in the dusty Afghanistan desert.

Military jet crashes

IMPERIAL, Calif.

A Marine jet crashed into a residential area in a Southern California desert community Wednesday, exploding and setting two homes on fire. The pilot ejected safely, and there was no immediate word of any injuries on the ground.

The Harrier AV-8B went down at 4:20 p.m. in Imperial, a city of about 15,000 near the U.S.-Mexico border about 90 miles east of San Diego. Witnesses described an explosion and thick plumes of smoke.

3 officers killed in shooting in Canada

MONCTON, New Brunswick

Three police officers were shot dead and two others injured Wednesday in the east-coast Canadian province of New Brunswick, officials said, and authorities were searching for a suspect.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police in New Brunswick confirmed on its Twitter feed that three officers were dead and two others had suffered non-life- threatening injuries. Police spokesman Paul Greene confirmed the deaths.

The RCMP said on Twitter that they were looking for 24-year-old Justin Bourque of Moncton. The police force tweeted an image of a suspect wearing military camouflage and wielding two guns.

Last of Navajo code talkers dies

Albuquerque, N.M.

The final member of the original Navajo code talkers, the group of 28 Native Americans who played a crucial role in U.S. communications during World War II, has died.

Chester Nez died Wednesday in Albuquerque, confirmed Judy Avila, who helped Nez write his memoirs.

Nez was 93.

Nez, among the first recruited, helped to develop code based on the Navajo’s unwritten language. The code thwarted the Japanese trying to intercept American communications in the Pacific during World War II.

Combined dispatches