Obama honors 3 who thwarted train attack in France

Obama honors 3 who thwarted train attack in France

WASHINGTON

The three young Americans who thwarted a gunman on a Paris-bound passenger train last month got their moment in the Oval Office on Thursday.

President Barack Obama praised Alek Skarlatos, Spencer Stone and Anthony Sadler for teamwork, courage and quick-thinking actions that averted “a real calamity.”

He celebrated them as three friends who had been headed for a fun reunion in Paris when they “ended up engaging a potential catastrophic situation and pinning down someone who clearly was intent on doing a lot of harm to a lot of people, inflicting terror on the French people.”

Commanders testify at Bergdahl hearing

SAN ANTONIO

The commanders of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl’s platoon, company and battalion testified Thursday that his disappearance from his post in Afghanistan six years ago put a strain on their forces and put his fellow soldiers in danger.

The testimony came during a hearing where an attorney for Bergdahl, Lt. Col. Franklin D. Rosenblatt, said Bergdahl had been discharged from the U.S. Coast Guard because of psychological problems and an Army psychiatric board later concluded he had a “severe mental defect.” Rosenblatt’s comments about Bergdahl’s mental-health history came as the lawyer questioned a witness called by military prosecutors.

Attorneys for Bergdahl, who is charged with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy, will get to present their own evidence and call witnesses today on the second day of the hearing to determine whether Bergdahl should face a court-martial.

Kentucky clerk loses another appeal

LOUISVILLE, Ky.

Kentucky County Clerk Kim Davis lost another legal bid to delay issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, marking the latest in a mounting stack of rejected appeals.

Davis, who returned to work this week after five days in jail for defying a federal court order, had again tried to persuade the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to delay a judge’s mandate that she issue marriage licenses to all couples.

The appeals court scrapped that request Thursday on a legal technicality: Davis’ lawyers did not first ask U.S. District Court Judge David Bunning to delay his mandate, as federal court rules require, before they appealed to the higher court. The lawyers, in justifying skipping that step, cited the judge’s “extraordinary doggedness.” The appeals court wrote that “this is not a valid reason.”

Fortified buildings, alerts paid off in Chile earthquake

COQUIMBO, Chile

Parts of this port city were a disaster zone Thursday after a magnitude-8.3 quake hit off the coast, killing at least 12 people and likely causing billions in damage.

The most stunning thing about Wednesday night’s earthquake may be the relatively low amount of havoc caused by such a powerful shake.

While the quake led more than 1 million to evacuate coastal areas and no doubt caused much anxiety, seismologists said Chile’s heavy investment in structural reinforcement of buildings and constant refinement of its tsunami alert system helped prevent what would have been a catastrophe in less-prepared nations.

Associated Press