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Two men have pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter in connection with the fatal beating of a 59-year-old San Francisco man on a downtown Oakland street, attorneys in the case said Tuesday. Lavonte Drummer, 20, and Dominic Davis, 19, both of Oakland, had been charged with murder in the 2010 death of Tian Sheng Yu, which came after what authorities called a random, unprovoked attack on his son, Jin Cheng Yu, then 27. Drummer and Davis pleaded no contest last month to voluntary manslaughter and are expected to serve 11 years in prison if Judge Carrie Panetta of Alameda County...

LONDON (AP) — She was instantly recognizable for the eye patch that hid a shrapnel injury – a testament to Marie Colvin’s courage, which took her behind the front lines of the world’s deadliest conflicts to write about the suffering of individuals trapped in war. After more than two decades of chronicling conflict, Colvin became a victim of it Wednesday, killed by shelling in the besieged Syrian city of Homs. Colvin, 56, died alongside French photojournalist Remi Ochlik, the French government announced. Freelance photographer Paul Conroy and journalist Edith Bouvier of Le Figaro were wounded.

Egyptian security officials reported a Bedouin man shot and killed a French tourist Saturday in the Sinai, in an apparent act of retribution after clashes with police. According to the online Egyptian Independent, Alexander Crister, 42, suffered multiple gunshot wounds after a man, distraught over the death of his relative in an anti-drugs raid, opened fire at random toward tourists. Yousef Abu Khashm died and three policemen sustained injuries in a series of raids on areas suspected to be linked with the narcotics trade in Hay Bader, Toshky and al-Tour, the police confirmed. The wounded police officers were identified as...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 25, 2012 – A combined Afghan and coalition security force killed several insurgents during a search for a Taliban leader in the Kot district of Afghanistan’s Faryab province today, military officials reported. The sought-after leader is an explosives expert and suicide-attack network facilitator who targets senior Afghan government officials throughout the Almar district, officials said. During the operation, two insurgents exited a building and fired at the security force, officials said. Several remaining insurgents barricaded themselves inside the building and also opened fire. The security force returned fire, killing the insurgents. The security force confiscated several assault rifles,...

Raleigh, N.C. — One of the men involved in a Johnston County terrorist cell that authorities said plotted attacks on a Marine base in Virginia and foreign targets tried to have witnesses in his trial last fall killed, according to federal records unsealed Monday. Hysen Sherifi was found guilty after a month-long trial of conspiring to provide material support to terrorism and conspiring to carry out attacks overseas, two counts of firearms possession and conspiring to kill federal officers or employees. He was sentenced two weeks ago to 45 years in prison. Federal authorities said Sherifi tried to hire someone...

the times Employee shot and killed robber at Gary Rally's By Lauri Harvey Keagle lauri.keagle@nwi.com, (219) 852-4311 | Posted: Wednesday, January 25, 2012 8:08 am GARY | A man found dead in the parking lot of a Rally's restaurant after an armed robbery there was one of the robbers and was shot and killed by an employee fearing for his life, police said. Sgt. Nelson Otuna said released the information on the Jan. 11 shooting death Wednesday morning. "The employee feared for his life and his partner's, grabbed his weapon and shot at the offenders as they went running," Otuna...

KABUL, Afghanistan, Jan. 24, 2012 – Afghan and coalition forces killed five insurgents and detained eight suspects during operations in eastern Afghanistan yesterday, military officials reported. A coalition airstrike killed five insurgents in the Tagab district of Afghanistan’s Kapisa province. Afghan police detained four suspects in Laghman province’s Methar Lam district after a firefight. Afghan police detained four people wanted for questioning in the Sabari district of Khost province.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 20, 2012 – A combined Afghan and coalition security force killed a Taliban leader and two of his associates during an operation in the Achin district of Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province today, military officials reported. The leader, Khetab Gul, was responsible for a recent suicide car bomb attack in Nangarhar, officials said. He also constructed roadside bombs, planned attacks and distributed bomb-making materials to insurgents throughout the province. During the operation, several armed insurgents barricaded themselves inside a building and fired at the security force, officials said. The force returned fire, killing Gul and two other insurgents. The security...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 10, 2012 – An Afghan-led and coalition-supported security force killed seven insurgents and captured more than 30 others during a search for a Taliban leader in the Charhar district of Afghanistan’s Balkh province today, military officials reported. The Taliban leader plans attacks against Afghan forces and directs the placement of bombs throughout the province. Insurgents used rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire to engage the security force. They also used Afghan civilians as human shields. The security force seized explosives, pressure-plate bombs, weapons and ammunition. The material was destroyed. In other Afghanistan operations today: -- A combined force captured...

KABUL, Afghanistan, Jan. 5, 2012 – An Afghan and coalition security force killed a Taliban leader in the Mazar-e Sharif district of Afghanistan’s Balkh province today, military officials reported. The leader was responsible for logistical and financial support of insurgent fighters, led a recent ambush against Afghan forces and buried roadside bombs. In operations in Afghanistan yesterday: -- A combined force in Kandahar province’s Panjwai district found and destroyed about 5,500 pounds of marijuana. -- In Kandahar province’s Zharay district, a coalition security force confiscated seven mines, eight 82 mm recoilless rifle rounds, a heavy machine gun and several bomb...

FULL TITLE: Oklahoma Mother, 18, Kills Intruder Breaking Into Her Home While on Phone With 911 *** 911 operator told young mother she could not shoot until man entered her home. VIDEO

SIERRA VISTA — Officers were forced to shoot and kill an aggressive dog in an apartment in Sierra Vista after it attacked its owner. The dog, thought to be a German Shepherd and Chow mix, bit its owner in her arm and head before police were contacted at 8:25 p.m. on Thursday and responded to Vista de la Sierra Apartments, 1555 Busby Drive, said Tracy Grady, public information officer for the Sierra Vista Police Department. “When the officers responded to the apartment, they found the victim still inside the apartment with the dog,” Grady said. The first officer on scene,...

MARIETTA — A Marietta woman who was accused of sending threatening packages to lawmakers was shot and killed after attacking a Cobb Police officer Christmas morning, police said. Using a knife and a handgun, Jameela Cecila Barnette, 53, assaulted an officer from the department’s Precinct 3 who had knocked on her apartment door after responding to an alarm, Cobb Police spokesman Sgt. Dana Pierce said. Despite receiving injuries to his arm, Pierce said the officer, who is not being identified at this time, fired his service weapon to stop the assault. The officer was treated and released at the scene,...

A Wichita man has been arrested in connection with the death of a 5-year-old child. Police say the boy was shot and killed in Lakewood, Colorado by a 3-year-old. Lakewood police say officers were called to an apartment complex Friday morning to investigate a report of a shooting. When they arrived, they found the 5-year-old suffering from a gunshot wound to the chest. The boy was taken to a local hospital where he later died. Police say a 3-year-old friend whose family was visiting from Kansas accidentally shot the 5-year-old. The circumstances of the shooting have not been released. Officials...

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — A woman shot and killed a home invader after he opened fire and shot her in the arm, according the Orange County Sheriff's Office. Deputies in Apopka said two armed men broke into a garage of a home on 18th Street and Leroy Court at about 12:30 a.m. on Friday and demanded money from the woman's boyfriend, Lionel Griffin.

A member of Nigeria's Islamist Boko Haram sect on Saturday claimed responsibility for a wave of attacks that killed at least 63 people in the northeast of the country the day before. "We are responsible for the attack in Borno (state) and Damaturu," Abul Qaqa told an AFP correspondent by phone. "We will continue attacking federal government formations until security forces stop persecuting our members and vulnerable civilians," Qaqa vowed. The Friday bomb and gun attacks, including two suicide blasts, targeted police stations, an army base and churches in the cities of Damaturu, Maiduguri and two other small towns. "Sixty-three...

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — The top leader of Colombia's main rebel group, the bookish ideologue Alfonso Cano, was killed Friday in a military bombing in the country's southwest, authorities said. "The fingerprints matched," said one senior security official who confirmed the death, adding that Cano was killed in "a standard military operation" in Cauca state in which ground troops also participated. The official spoke on condition he not be further identified. Cano, the 63-year-old head of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, had been the top target of Colombian authorities since September 2010, when they killed the insurgency's...

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, Nov. 3, 2011 – Afghan and coalition forces killed three insurgents, detained one suspect and seized two weapons caches during operations in eastern Afghanistan yesterday, military officials reported. A coalition airstrike killed three insurgents, officials said, as they were planting device roadside bomb in the Khogyani district of Nangarhar province. Coalition troops detained a suspect in the Tirzaye district of Khost province. Elsewhere, insurgents killed four Afghan civilians when a roadside bomb detonated in the Sayidabad district of Wardak province. In Ghazni province, Afghan soldiers seized 62 82 mm rounds, 24 107 mm rocket igniters, 10 mortar...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 2, 2011 – An Afghan and coalition security force killed two insurgents and detained one suspect while searching for a Haqqani network leader in the Yahya Khel district of Afghanistan’s Paktika province yesterday, military officials reported. The Haqqani leader oversees insurgent fighting cells and is responsible for attacks against Afghan forces. Multiple weapons and bomb-making materials were seized by the security force during the operation. In other Afghanistan operations yesterday: -- A combined patrol killed several insurgents and detained two individuals in the Baghran district of Helmand province. The force seized 8,800 pounds of poppy seeds, 66 pounds...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 31, 2011 – Afghan and coalition forces killed 10 insurgents, detained one suspect and seized three weapons caches during operations across Afghanistan yesterday, military officials reported. Coalition forces killed three insurgents in Kunar province’s Bar Kunar district. Two others were killed in the Qarghaee district of Laghman province during an airstrike. In the Khost district of Khost province, two other insurgents were killed after engaging coalition forces in a mortar attack. In Kapisa province’s Tagab district, coalition forces killed one insurgent who was attempting to emplace an improvised explosive device. In the Mehtar Lam district of Laghman province,...