World/ Nation Briefs July 14, 2013

Police mum on jewelry store killings motive

SAN FRANCISCO - A bloodied gunman suspected of killing two women and seriously wounding a man inside a jewelry store at a popular San Francisco shopping center is in custody, but police have yet to release a motive.

Officers encountered the suspect Friday outside the San Francisco Giftcenter & Jewelrymart in the trendy South of Market area. Initially, the officers were not sure if the man, who had blood on his clothes, was a shooting victim or a suspect, police Chief Greg Suhr said.

The man, whose name was not released, then opened fire at officers while retreating into a restaurant, Suhr said.

"The suspect fired additional multiple rounds at the officers and then, we believe, ran out of ammunition, threw the gun on the ground and surrendered," Suhr said.

Official: No asylum plea received from Snowden

MOSCOW - Russian immigration officials said Saturday they have not received an application from Edward Snowden, the U.S. National Security Agency leaker who wants to get asylum in Russia.

Snowden came to Moscow's Sheremetyevo international airport on June 23 from Hong Kong, apparently intending to board a flight to Cuba. But he did not get on that flight and is believed to have spent the last three weeks marooned in the airport's transit zone.

On Friday, he met with human rights activists there and said he would seek Russian asylum, at least as a temporary measure before going to Venezuela, Bolivia or Nicaragua, all of which have offered him asylum.

But the Interfax news agency quoted Russian migration service head Konstantin Romodanovsky as saying no asylum request had been received as of Saturday.

Runaway oil train probe to proceed slowly, carefully

LAC-MEGANTIC, Quebec - It was surely the most festive spot in town as a Friday night turned into a Saturday morning at the Musi-Cafe - a full house, live music, plenty of beer and nachos to animate long-time friends.

Among the dozens enjoying themselves in the pub was a sizable contingent of the Lafontaine clan, celebrating the 40th birthday of a daughter of prominent local businessman Raymond Lafontaine.

Four days later - having lost a son and two daughters-in-law who were among the revelers - Lafontaine stood near a throng of reporters on a street near the town center, watching them pepper an American railroad executive with questions.

"I wanted to see my children's killer," Lafontaine said. "And I wanted to see the killer of other people from here who didn't ask to die."

Any possible culpability on the part of the railway remains to be determined; police say their criminal investigation will proceed slowly and carefully. But it is fact that an unmanned Montreal, Maine and Atlantic freight train with 72 cars carrying shale oil turned into a runaway death machine - rolling away from its overnight parking spot, barreling for miles down an incline in the dark of night, derailing in the heart of Lac-Megantic at 1:14 a.m. on July 6, and snuffing out 50 lives when a series of explosions set off a ferocious fire.

Third to die from injuries in jetliner crash identified

SAN FRANCISCO - The name of a girl who died of injuries suffered in the crash-landing of an Asiana Airlines flight in San Francisco emerged on Saturday.

San Mateo County Coroner Robert Foucrault confirmed 15-year-old Liu Yipeng's identity and said the girl was still in her seat when she was rescued last week. Chinese state media said she went to school with the other two victims killed in last week's accident, a pair of 16-year-old girls.

Foucrault said Liu Yipeng was transported to San Francisco General Hospital with head injuries after the July 6 crash. She died Friday morning at San Francisco General Hospital where she had been in critical condition. An autopsy was being conducted on Saturday, the coroner said.

Liu Yipeng's identification comes a day after her death was announced amid the official confirmation that one of the other girls who died in the disaster had been covered on the runway in flame-retardant foam and hit by a fire truck speeding to the crash site, a disclosure that raised the tragic possibility she could have survived the crash only to die in its chaotic aftermath.

Police and fire officials confirmed Friday that Ye Meng Yuan was hit by a fire truck racing to extinguish the blazing Boeing 777.

- The Associated Press