4 children fatally stabbed; mother is in custody

4 children fatally stabbed; mother is in custody

MEMPHIS, Tenn.

Four young children were stabbed to death in a gated apartment complex in suburban Memphis on Friday, and police took their mother into custody for questioning. She has not been charged.

Deputies were called to the complex in unincorporated Shelby County shortly before 1 p.m., said county Sheriff Bill Oldham, who did not specifically allege that the mother had stabbed the children.

“This is an egregious act of evil that has shocked us to our core,” Oldham said. “I will never understand how anyone can do this.”

Up to 116 civilians killed in drone strikes, US says

WASHINGTON

Peeling back some of the secrecy of America’s drone strikes on suspected terrorists, the Obama administration on Friday said it has killed up to 116 civilians in counterterror attacks in Pakistan, Yemen and other places where the U.S. is not engaged in active, on-the-ground warfare.

The first public assessment is a response to mounting pressure for more information about lethal U.S. operations overseas. Human rights and other groups quickly complained that the administration undercounted civilian casualties and called on the White House to release far more information.

Charleston church shooting victims file suits against FBI

COLUMBIA, S.C.

The FBI is being sued by survivors of the Charleston church shooting, who say federal negligence enabled Dylann Roof to buy the .45-caliber handgun he used.

Lawyers for three people who survived the attack and the estates of five who were slain inside the Emanuel AME Church say the FBI negligently failed to thoroughly check Roof’s background before he bought the gun last year.

If the agency had done its job, Roof’s prior drug arrest would have shown up, and the bureau would have denied his purchase, the lawsuits filed Thursday allege.

California governor signs stringent gun bills, vetoes others

SACRAMENTO, Calif.

Gov. Jerry Brown signed six stringent gun-control measures Friday that will require people to turn in high-capacity magazines and mandate background checks for ammunition sales, as California Democrats seek to strengthen gun laws that are already among the strictest in the nation.

Brown vetoed five other bills, including a requirement to report lost or stolen weapons to authorities and a limit of one gun purchase per person per month.

Al Gore’s daughter in court after arrest at pipeline protest

BOSTON

Former Vice President Al Gore’s daughter and other activists arrested at a protest of a natural-gas pipeline in Boston have pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor charges.

Karenna Gore, activist Tim DeChristopher and nine others were arraigned Friday on charges including trespassing, resisting arrest and disturbing the peace.

Twenty-three protesters were arrested Wednesday when they tried to block construction of Spectra Energy’s West Roxbury Lateral pipeline.

Associated Press