Train suspect watched jihadi video

Train suspect watched jihadi video

PARIS

Minutes before he slung an assault rifle across his chest and walked through a high-speed train, the Moroccan suspect in the foiled attack watched a jihadi video on his cellphone, the French prosecutor said in formally opening a terrorism investigation Tuesday.

The actions by Ayoub El-Khazzani on the Amsterdam-to-Paris train Friday night and information from other European authorities on his travels and apparent links to radical Islam prompted the investigation, said prosecutor Francois Molins.

El-Khazzani, 26, was tackled and tied up by five passengers, including three Americans and a Briton, averting what President Francois Hollande said “could have degenerated into monstrous carnage.”

Judge temporarily halts executions

JACKSON, Miss.

A federal judge Tuesday temporarily blocked the state of Mississippi from using two drugs in executions, shutting down the death penalty in the state for now.

U.S. District Judge Henry T. Wingate issued a temporary restraining order saying Mississippi officials cannot use pentobarbital or midazolam, two drugs used to render prisoners unconscious. Mississippi law requires a three-drug process, with the sedative followed by a paralyzing agent and a drug that stops an inmate’s heart.

Lion kills guide

HARARE, Zimbabwe

A lion charged and killed a safari guide who was leading a group of tourists in the same national park in Zimbabwe that was the home of Cecil the lion who was controversially killed by an American bow hunter in July.

Quinn Swales was leading a walking safari in Hwange National Park when he spotted six lions Monday, police spokeswoman Charity Charamba said Tuesday.

“One of the lions had cubs, and they became hostile. Mr. Swales at first managed to scare the lions away but then the male lion later made a U-turn and attacked him,” Charamba told The Associated Press. None of the tourists was harmed, she said.

Ag secretary throws support to Clinton

WASHINGTON

Hillary Rodham Clinton collected her first endorsement from a member of President Barack Obama’s Cabinet on Tuesday when Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack cited her leadership and loyalty in announcing his decision to fall in line behind the “battle-tested” and embattled Democratic presidential contender.

Vilsack, a former Iowa governor, also endorsed Clinton during the 2008 contest. She lost the nomination to Obama.

Student surrenders after taking hostages

PHILIPPI, W.Va.

A 14-year-old boy held 29 students and a teacher at gunpoint in a West Virginia high-school classroom Tuesday afternoon before he released them after negotiations and surrendered, authorities said. No injuries were reported.

The student took a pistol into a second-floor classroom Tuesday afternoon at Philip Barbour High School in the north-central part of the state, State Police Lt. Michael Baylous said in a statement.

It was the ninth day of the new school year in Philippi, a town of some 3,000 residents about 115 miles south of Pittsburgh, Pa. Authorities said the episode began after 1 p.m. and police had brought the situation under control by about 3:30 p.m., though they didn’t immediately say just how long hostages were held.

Associated Press