Sportsman Channel 'Rifleman' host killed by gunman

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A northwestern Montana man shot and killed the host of the Sportsman Channel show "A Rifleman's Journal" in an apparent jealous rage while the TV personality was visiting the shooter's wife, police said Friday.

Wayne Bengston, 41, then beat his wife, took his 2-year-old son to a relative's house and drove to his home about 25 miles away in West Glacier, where he killed himself, Whitefish Police Chief Bill Dial said.

"It's pretty much an open-and-closed case. Homicide and suicide," Dial said.

Police identified the shooting victim as Gregory G. Rodriguez, 43, of Sugar Land, Texas. Bengston's wife told police that Rodriguez was in town on business and visiting her at her mother's house in Whitefish when her husband showed up Thursday at about 10:30 p.m.

Rodriguez and the woman, who works for a firearms manufacturer in the Flathead Valley, met at a trade show and struck up a casual relationship that police do not believe was romantic, Dial said.

She and Rodriguez were sitting at the kitchen table, talking over a glass of wine, when Bengston entered the house and shot Rodriguez, Dial said.

He then beat his wife on the face and head, most likely with the pistol, he said. She was treated at a hospital and released.

"I think it was a jealous husband, but this is all conjecture," Dial said.

After the shooting was reported, Flathead County sheriff's deputies found Bengston's truck parked in his driveway. Efforts by a police SWAT team to contact Bengston inside the house were unsuccessful, and officers found his body with what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, police said.

Besides appearing on TV, Rodriguez was the founder and CEO of Global Adventure Outfitters. According to the company's website, he was an editor at Shooting Times Magazine and a contributing editor at Petersen's Hunting, Guns & Ammo and Dangerous Game.

He was a mortgage banker before founding Global Adventure Outfitters and has hunted in 21 countries, the website says.

"A Rifleman's Journal" tracks Rodriguez's hunting travels to exotic locations, according to a Sportsman Channel description.

He has a wife and two children, it says.

A woman who answered the phone at Global Adventure Outfitters confirmed that Rodriguez had been in Montana but said the organization would not be making a statement at the time.

Bengston worked for the U.S. Forest Service, Dial said.

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Intern killed by lion was an accident, family says

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — Family members of a 24-year-old intern killed by a lion at a California animal park said Friday they believe the facility followed safety protocols and the death was a tragic accident.

Investigators believe the 5-year-old male lion lifted the door of a partially closed feeding cage with its paw and killed Dianna Hanson as she cleaned a bigger enclosure area, Fresno County coroner David Hadden has said.

Family members said they're relieved the young woman was killed instantly when the lion swiped or lunged at her.

"We're thankful to know she didn't suffer," Hanson's brother, Paul R. Hanson, told The Associated Press.

Dianna Hanson died immediately from a broken neck, according to a Fresno County coroner's autopsy report.

Other injuries were sustained after her death, the report states.

Family members say they don't believe it was a mauling, but rather a lion's rough play that turned tragic.

"It sounds like it was an accident, maybe the latch had not been completely closed ... You know, house cats are smart, they can open doors," Paul Hanson said. "It wasn't a vicious attack ... because you would expect severe lacerations and biting on the neck and that was not the case."

Paul Hanson and his wife Tiffany Windle-Hanson, who was the victim's college roommate, don't believe any rules were broken at Cat Haven, the animal park run by the nonprofit group Project Survival.

"It was just a tragic accident," Windle-Hanson said.

Investigators were focusing on the cage door that the 550-pound animal managed to escape through to reach the volunteer intern.

"The lion had been fed, the young woman was cleaning the large enclosure, and the lion was in the small cage," Hadden said. "The gate of the cage was partially open, which allowed the lion called Cous Cous to lift it up with his paw."

Hadden said the lion then ran at Hanson.

Hanson was talking with a co-worker on a cellphone in the moments before she was killed, the coroner said. The co-worker became concerned when the conversation ended abruptly and Hanson failed to call back. The co-worker then called authorities when she went to check on Hanson.

Family members say Hanson was actually using a walkie-talkie, which they understood to be the policy at the animal park.

"She wasn't distracted, she wasn't like that," Windle-Hanson said. "It's a safety protocol to have walkie-talkies there, which is important in case a situation like this occurs."

Sheriff's deputies shot Cous Cous after the animal couldn't be coaxed away from Hanson's body.

Hanson had been working for two months as an intern at Cat Haven, a 100-acre private zoo east of Fresno.

Her father, Paul Hanson, described his daughter as a "fearless" lover of big cats and said her goal was to work with the animals at an accredited zoo. She died doing what she loves, he said.

Hanson's Facebook page is plastered with photos of her petting tigers and other big cats. She told her father she was frustrated that Cat Haven did not allow direct contact with animals.

"She was disappointed because she said they wouldn't let her into the cages with the lion and tiger there," said Paul Hanson, a Seattle-area attorney.

Dale Anderson, the owner of the zoo, said safety protocols were in place but he would not discuss them because they are a part of the law enforcement investigation.

Anderson said he's the only person allowed in the enclosure when lions are present.

"We want to assure the community that we have followed all safety protocols," Anderson said. "We have been incident-free since 1998 when we opened."

He said the facility will reopen to the public on Sunday.

When the attack occurred, Anderson said he and two other Cat Haven workers had left to take a cheetah to exhibit at a school. Hanson and another worker remained at the facility.

Whether Hanson was performing a function that placed her in danger is being investigated by Cal-OSHA, which also is trying to determine if employees were properly instructed about potential danger, as required.

In addition, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which enforces the federal Animal Welfare Act, is also looking to understand why the lion turned on the intern.

USDA inspectors conduct multiple unannounced inspections of Cat Haven every year and never had found a violation, Sacks said. Federal regulations pertain only to animal treatment.

Cat Haven breeds and keeps lions, tigers, jaguars, lynx and other exotic cats and takes them out for public appearances. There were nearly 30 cats at the park during the accident, including two lions.

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2 Syrian journalists killed in Damascus

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Two Syrian journalists were killed in the capital Damascus, state media and an Arab satellite television station reported on Sunday.

Activists reported more clashes in some Damascus suburbs, the battleground city of Aleppo in the north, central Homs province, and the restive southern town of Daraa. The U.K.-based activist group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it had no immediate reports of casualties.

Syrian state news agency SANA also reported that security forces ambushed an armed group in Aleppo and killed and wounded some of them. It said that al-Safira residents in Aleppo prevented gunmen riding in five cars mounted with machine guns from entering their area.

In Cairo, the Arab League said an emergency meeting of Arab foreign ministers on Syria that had been scheduled for Sunday in Saudi Arabia has been postponed. It did not say why the meeting was postponed or give a new date.

SANA said one of its reporters, Ali Abbas, was killed at his residence in Damascus. The report blamed an "armed terrorist group" — the regime's catch-all term for its opponents — but gave no further details.

Pan-Arab satellite news channel Al-Arabiya television said that Bara'a Yusuf al-Bushi, a Syrian national and army defector who worked with the station and several other international news organizations, was killed in a bomb attack while covering a story in al-Tal, a suburb in northern Damascus.

Both reporters were reported killed on Saturday.  

Journalists have suffered a number of casualties in the 17-month-old uprising against President Bashar Assad, and in recent months there have been several attacks on pro-regime media.

Activists say more than 20,000 people have been killed since the revolt began in March 2011.

On Saturday, two bombings in Damascus brought chaos to some of the capital's most exclusive areas in another symbolic blow to Assad.

One blast — from a device planted under a tree — was set off by remote control as a vehicle carrying soldiers passed by in the Marjeh district. The explosion, which caused no casualties, was about 100 yards (meters) from the Four Seasons, one of the top luxury hotels in Damascus.

After the blast, gunmen opened fire on civilians "to provoke panic," SANA reported.

At the same time, a second explosion went off near Tishrin Stadium, less than a half mile, SANA reported.

Hours later, SANA said a bus was attacked in a Damascus suburb, killing six passengers traveling from the central province of Hama.

Explosions in the capital have become increasingly common as Syria's civil war escalates. On July 18, rebels carried out the deadliest bombing on a regime security building that killed four members of Assad's inner circle.

___

Associated Press Writer Michael Casey in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.

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Syrian defense minister killed in suicide blast

BEIRUT (AP) — A suicide bomber struck the National Security building in the Syrian capital Wednesday, killing the defense minister and wounding the interior minister in a brazen attack on the seat of government power, state-run TV said.

Defense Minister Dawoud Rajha, 65, a former army general, is the most senior government official to be killed in the Syrian civil war as rebels battle to oust President Bashar Assad. Interior Minister Mohammed Shaar was in stable condition, state-run TV said.

Although it was unclear who was behind the attack, the high-level assassination could signal a turning point in the 16-month conflict as the violence becomes increasingly chaotic.

The capital also has seen four straight days of clashes pitting government troops against rebels — an unprecedented challenge to government rule in the tightly controlled capital.

Rajha was the most senior Christian government official in Syria. Assad appointed him to the post last year. His death will resonate with Syria's minority Christian population, who make up about 10 percent of Syria's population and have generally stood by the regime.

Christians say they are particularly vulnerable to the violence sweeping the country of 22 million people, and they are fearful that Syria will become another Iraq, with Christians caught in the crossfire between rival Muslim groups.

Wednesday's attack struck the National Security building in Damascus during a meeting of Cabinet ministers and senior security officials. State-run TV said some of the officials were seriously wounded.

Damascus-based activist Omar al-Dimashki said Republican Guard troops surrounded the nearby al-Shami Hospital where some officials were taken for treatment.

The blast came on the same day the U.N. Security Council was scheduled to vote on a new resolution aimed at pressuring the Syrian regime to comply with a peace plan.

But Russia remained at loggerheads with the U.S. and its European allies over any mention of sanctions and Chapter 7 of the U.N. charter, which could eventually allow the use of force to end the conflict in Syria.

Besides a government crackdown, rebel fighters are launching increasingly deadly attacks on regime targets, and several massive suicide attacks this year suggest al-Qaida or other extremists are joining the fray.

Activists say more than 17,000 people have been killed since the uprising began in March 2011.

The state-run news agency SANA reported that Wednesday's blast was aimed at the National Security building, a headquarters for one of Syria's intelligence branches and less than 500 meters (yards) from the U.S. Embassy.

Police had cordoned off the area, and journalists were banned from approaching the site.

Earlier Wednesday, SANA said soldiers were chasing rebels in the Midan neighborhood, causing "great losses among them." The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said army helicopters attacked the neighborhoods of Qaboun and Barzeh.

Diplomacy so far has failed to stop the bloodshed, and there appeared to be little hope that the U.N.'s most powerful body would unite behind a plan.

The key stumbling block is the Western demand for a resolution threatening non-military sanctions and tied to Chapter 7 of the United Nations Charter, which could eventually allow the use of force to end the conflict in Syria.

Russia is adamantly opposed to any mention of sanctions or Chapter 7. After Security Council consultations late Tuesday on a revised draft resolution pushed by Moscow, Russia's deputy U.N. ambassador Alexander Pankin said these remain "red lines."

Russia has said it will veto any Chapter 7 resolution, but council diplomats said there is still a possibility of last-minute negotiations.

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10 killed in high-rise collapse in Egypt

ALEXANDRIA, Egypt (AP) — Egypt's Health Ministry says 10 people have been killed when an apartment tower under construction collapsed on adjacent buildings in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria.

The ministry said Sunday that five other people were injured and that search teams are searching for survivors buried under rubble.

The 11-storey building in the poor Alexandria neighborhood of al-Gomrouk collapsed late Saturday onto three adjacent buildings, reducing much of the structures to rubble. All the dead and injured lived in the three smaller buildings.

Building collapses are not uncommon in Egypt, where shoddy construction is widespread in shantytowns, poor city neighborhoods and rural areas. With real estate at a premium in big cities like Alexandria and Cairo, developers seeking bigger profits frequently violate planning permits and exceed the number of stories allowed.

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Baghdad bombs target Shi'ite pilgrims, 26 killed

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Double car bombs targeting Shi'ite pilgrims in Baghdad killed at least 26 people on Saturday in the latest attacks by insurgents trying to tip Iraq back into widespread sectarian violence.

It was the third day of bombings to strike Shi'ite pilgrims this week. On Wednesday, a wave of bombings killed more than 75 people across Iraq in the bloodiest violence since U.S. troops left the country in December.

Saturday's car bombs exploded near Baghdad's Kadhimiya district, scattering body parts and clothing along a route used by pilgrims marking the anniversary of the death of Shi'ite imam Moussa al-Kadhim, a great-grandson of Prophet Mohammad.

"We rushed to the scene, there were dismembered bodies, shoes, plastic bags, women's robes left all around, and people were screaming everywhere," said Ahmed Maati, a policeman working nearby.

Television footage showed the charred, twisted shell of one of the vehicles used in the attacks sitting on a main Baghdad road, with other burned-out vehicles nearby.

Attacks on Shi'ite targets are reviving fears Iraq risks slipping back into the broad sectarian slaughter of its recent past, especially as the Shi'ite, Sunni and ethnic Kurdish parties that make up its fragile government feud over sharing power.

With security around Baghdad's Kadhimiya district very tight for the religious festival, one bomber on Saturday posed as a taxi driver and picked up pilgrims to access the area. At least 14 were killed in that initial blast and more than 30 wounded, authorities said.

A second car bomb exploded nearby and killed at least 12 more and wounded 28, police and hospital sources said.

AL QAEDA AFFILIATE

Al Qaeda's Iraq affiliate, Islamic State of Iraq or ISI, has claimed responsibility for Wednesday's attacks, according to U.S.-based SITE Intelligence Group, which follows jihadist websites.

Iraq's al Qaeda wing was weakened by its long war with U.S. and Iraqi security forces, but since the last American troops left in December, the group and other Sunni Islamist insurgents have carried out a major attack about once a month this year.

Al Qaeda in Iraq often hits Shi'ite targets in an attempt to stir up the kind of sectarian tensions that drove Iraq to the edge of civil war and killed tens of thousands of people in 2006-2007. They also target security forces to try to show the Shi'ite-led government is failing to stamp out violence.

Earlier this month, ISI claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing on a major Shi'ite religious office in Baghdad, which killed 26 people, wounded 190 and evoked memories of the darker days of the country's conflict.

The violence also risks escalating tensions among the Shi'ite, Sunni Muslim and Kurdish blocks in the government as Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki fends off attempts at a vote of no confidence against him.

Many Sunni Iraqis, who once dominated the Shi'ite majority under dictator Saddam Hussein, fear Maliki is consolidating his power at their expense by ignoring pledges to share power among the country's sectarian and ethnic mix.

Kurdistan, an autonomous Kurdish area in northern Iraq reliant on the central government's budget, is also chaffing against Maliki's authority in a long-running feud for control over oil and areas disputed by ethnic Kurds and Iraqi Arabs.

(Reporting by Raheem Salman in Baghdad; writing by Patrick Markey; Editing by Serena Chaudhry and Alessandra Rizzo)

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2 Somalia sport officials among 10 killed in blast

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — An explosion Wednesday at a ceremony at Somalia's national theater killed at least 10 people including two top sports officials in an attack by an Islamist group on a site that symbolized the city's attempt to rise from two decades of war.

The explosion at the newly reopened theater happened as Somali Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali was standing at the podium to deliver a speech. The prime minister was unharmed, said Abdirahman Omar Osman, the government spokesman. The president of Somalia's Olympic committee and the president of its soccer federation were killed, according to Shafici Mohyadin, the federation's secretary.

The blast shattered a tentative peace that descended on Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, after fighters belonging to the Islamist group al-Shabab were pushed out last August by government and African Union troops.

The government said a female suicide bomber carried out the attack, but al-Shabab, using its official Twitter feed to claim responsbility for the attack, said explosives had been planted in the theater before the event.

Sports leagues have blossomed and seaside restaurants have been setting up shop, marking a long-awaited a revival of the seaside capital.

Wednesday's ceremony — two weeks after the theater reopened — was held to mark the first anniversary of the start of a national TV station. The blast cut chairs in half, filled the room with smoke and splattered blood across the walls.

"It was a cowardly act and that will not deter the government from performing its national duties," Osman said. "The prime minister will energize the government to eliminate the terrorists out of the country."

Ali Muse, the head of Mogadishu's ambulance service, said at least 10 people were killed and dozens wounded. He said the wounded included the country's national planning minister.

"The blast happened as musicians were singing and spectators were clapping for them," said Salah Jimale, who was in attendance at the theater but received only light scratches. "Huge smoke made the whole scene go dark. People screamed and soldiers suddenly started opening fire at the gate. Some wounded people escaped and ran away."

Shoes and blood-splattered mobile phones lay on the floor. A man wounded in the head and chest tried to sit up but suddenly collapsed and died as a reporter looked on.

The International Olympic Committee issued a statement saying it was "shocked to hear of the terrorist attack that took the lives of the President of the Somali Olympic Committee Aden Yabarow Wiish and Somali Football Federation chief Said Mohamed Nur today in Mogadishu."

"Both men were engaged in improving the lives of Somalian people through sport and we strongly condemn such an act of barbarism. Our thoughts are with the Somalian sporting community who lost two great leaders and with the families of the victims," the IOC said.

The months of relative peace allowed sports leagues, restaurants and even a little night life to flourish. Despite those advances, al-Shabab has continued to carry out suicide and roadside bomb attacks, sometimes with devastating effect. Last October militants detonated a truck loaded with fuel drums at a government ministry gate, killing more than 100 people.

The revival of sports in Mogadishu is an important part of the city's recent transformation. Women — who lived under harsh rules when al-Shabab held sway — can watch sports and even play. Al-Shabab defectors have put down their guns and are participating in sports leagues.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter said he knew both sports leaders who died Wednesday personally and they would be "sorely missed."

African Football Confederation president Issa Hayatou sent condolences to the families of those killed "in this terrible blast."

"It is another black day for African football. It's a tragedy as Somali football lost a great leader ... who was actively committed to football development despite very challenging conditions."

After Wednesday's blast, nervous soldiers outside the theater fired into the air to disperse shocked crowds gathered around the theater.

An old woman in tears ran toward a policeman after Wednesday's blast, saying: "My son was in there."

The policeman stopped her. She sat down and cried, but later ran into the theater, where she learned her son had died.

At the hospital, ambulance brought in the wounded, including a parliamentarian. Nurses led stumbling patients into surgical rooms.

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Memorial held for 7 killed in Oakland school shooting

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Civic and religious leaders in Oakland are mourning the deaths of seven people who were gunned down in one the nation's deadliest campus shootings in years.

Several hundred people gathered Tuesday night for a prayer vigil for the victims of Monday's shooting at Oikos University, a small Christian school in Oakland.

Mayor Jean Quan joined pastors from the Bay Area's Korean Christian community in calling for unity and an end to violence at the service at the Allen Temple Baptist Church.

The service was attended by friends, family and colleagues of the victims whose identities were officially released Tuesday.

Not long after the mass shooting, police arrested 43-year-old One Goh at a supermarket several miles away in Alameda.

Goh is being held without bail on suspicion of seven counts of murder, three counts of attempted murder and other charges.

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