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Coeur d'Alene Press | UPDATED 9 years, 6 months AGO
| July 17, 2015 9:00 PM

Gunman attacks 2 military sites in Tennessee

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - A gunman unleashed a barrage of fire at a recruiting center and another U.S. military site a few miles apart in Chattanooga on Thursday, killing at least four Marines and sending service members scrambling for cover as bullets smashed through the windows. The attacker was also killed.

Federal authorities said they were investigating the possibility it was an act of terrorism, and the FBI took charge of the case.

Authorities identified the gunman as Kuwait-born Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez, 24, of Hixson, Tenn., though the spelling of his first name was in dispute, with federal officials and records giving at least four variations.

A U.S. official said there was no indication Abdulazeez was on the radar of federal law enforcement before the shootings. The official was not authorized to discuss the case and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Jury quickly convicts Colorado theater shooter

CENTENNIAL, Colo. - Colorado theater shooter James Holmes was convicted Thursday in the chilling 2012 attack on defenseless moviegoers at a midnight Batman premiere after jurors swiftly rejected defense arguments that the former graduate student was insane and driven to murder by delusions.

The 27-year-old Holmes, who had been working toward his Ph.D. in neuroscience, could get the death penalty for the massacre that left 12 people dead and dozens of others wounded.

The initial phase of Holmes' trial took 11 weeks, but jurors needed only about 12 hours over a day and a half to find him guilty on all 165 counts.

The same panel must now decide whether Holmes should pay with his life. Starting Wednesday, they will hear what is expected to be a month's worth of testimony over whether Holmes deserves the death penalty.

For almost an hour, Judge Carlos A. Samour Jr. read charge after charge, reciting the name of the victim, the offense and the word "guilty." Dressed in a blue shirt and khakis and flanked by his public defenders, Holmes stood impassively with his hands in his pockets the whole time.

Obama visits Oklahoma federal prison

EL RENO, Okla. - Peering from the back seat of his armored black limousine, President Barack Obama rode into a razor wire-surrounded federal prison Thursday and said he met young inmates "who made mistakes that aren't that different than the mistakes I made."

Obama came to the medium-security El Reno Federal Correctional Institution near Oklahoma City to press his case that the nation needs to reconsider the way crime is controlled and prisoners are rehabilitated. The president met with inmates and walked past rows of empty cells secured by large grey doors. Prison officials opened cell no. 123 for Obama and he gazed at its sparse trappings: a double bunk bed and third bed along the wall, a toilet and sink, along with a small bookcase and three lockers.

"Three full-grown men in a 9-by-10 cell," he said.

The White House said Obama was the first sitting president to visit a federal prison.

Some donors give money to both GOP, Dems

WASHINGTON - John Catsimatidis, a Manhattan grocery chain owner, gave as much money as allowed to Hillary Rodham Clinton's Democratic primary campaign. Two months later, he gave the same amount, $2,700, to Jeb Bush, her would-be Republican challenger.

"I've been friends with both of their families for many, many years," he said. "They both love America, and I'd be happy if either of them won."

The billionaire is one of at least 60 donors hedging their bets heading into 2016 by giving to presidential campaigns of both parties, an Associated Press review of federal campaign finance records found. While those contributions totaled only about $300,000, they are an odd wrinkle of presidential politics in a race expected to see 22 candidates vying for billions of dollars in contributions.

On the brink, Merkel, Tsipras clinched deal

BRUSSELS - As dawn broke in Brussels on Monday, Europe's frazzled leaders gazed into an abyss: The looming exit of Greece from a common currency that symbolized European unity.

Hours past a midnight deadline to clinch a Greek bailout deal, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras were about to walk away from the table - exhausted from all-night talks filled with threats, shouting and ultimatums.

A single text message rescued the talks - and possibly the euro. Dutch Premier Mark Rutte, a hard-liner on Greek reform waiting outside with other leaders, sent European Union President Donald Tusk an SMS proposing a compromise on the last sticking point keeping the two sides apart.

- Associated Press

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