US: Ebola could infect 1.4 million

US: Ebola could infect 1.4 million

NEW YORK

U.S. health officials Tuesday laid out worst-case and best-case scenarios for the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, warning that the number of infected people could explode to at least 1.4 million by mid-January — or peak well below that, if efforts to control the outbreak are ramped up.

The widely varying projections by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were based on conditions in late August and do not take into account a recent international surge in medical aid for the stricken region. That burst has given health authorities reason for some optimism.

Suspect charged in missing-student case

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.

The man authorities believe was the last person seen with a University of Virginia student before she disappeared has been charged with abduction, police said Tuesday night.

Charlottesville Police Chief Timothy Longo said at a news conference that officers are looking for Jesse Leroy Matthew Jr., 32, after obtaining a felony arrest warrant from a magistrate on a charge of abduction with intent to defile. They also continue to search for 18-year-old Hannah Graham, who went missing early Sept. 13.

3 escaped inmates were often in trouble

COLUMBUS

The three inmates who briefly escaped from an Ohio prison earlier this month, including a convicted school shooter, all had numerous discipline problems behind bars, according to newly released records.

Lindsey Bruce, Clifford Opperud and T.J. Lane, who shot and killed three high- school students in Chardon east of Cleveland in 2012, were all disciplined at one time or another for not following rules, according to records released Tuesday and earlier this month.

Bruce and Opperud were cellmates, Tuesday’s records revealed, and the day after their Sept. 11 escape, a search of their cell turned up a contraband TV.

All three were transferred from Allen Oakwood Correctional Institution in Lima to the so-called Supermax state prison in Youngstown after being captured.

Australian police kill terror suspect

CANBERRA, Australia

A terror suspect shot dead after he stabbed two Australian counterterrorism police officers had his passport canceled recently on national-security grounds, top police officials said today.

Some experts suspect Tuesday’s attack was inspired by the Islamic State group’s call to supporters to wage terror in their home countries.

An Australian Federal Police officer and a Victoria state police officer who were part of a Joint Counter Terrorism Team had asked the 18-year-old man to come to a police station in southeast Melbourne on Tuesday night to answer questions after first drawing their attention three months ago, Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Ken Lay said.

The trio exchanged handshakes before the man began stabbing the two officers, Australian Federal Police Commander Bruce Giles said. One of the officers then shot the man dead.

India puts satellite into Martian orbit

NEW DELHI

India has triumphed in its first interplanetary attempt by successfully putting a satellite into orbit around Mars.

Scientists broke into wild cheers this morning as the orbiter’s engines completed 24 minutes of burn time and maneuvered into its designated place around the red planet.

The success of India’s Mars Orbiter Mission, affectionately nicknamed MOM, brings India into an elite club of Martian explorers that includes United States, the European Space Agency and the former Soviet Union.

Associated Press