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FBI says it stopped a Mall of America terror attack by a teen after agents sold him an assault rifle
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- The FBI says it thwarted an attack on the Mall of America by a teenager after agents supplied him with an assault rifle. Authorities announced Wednesday that the 18-year-old had been under investigation for nearly two years, trading messages with a confidential informant. A federal complaint says Sheikhdoon Abdullahi Mohamud was arrested Tuesday in a public park after he paid $600 to an undercover FBI employee posing as a member of ISIS for an AK-47 and 200 rounds of ammunition. It accuses Mohamud of repeatedly telling the informant that he wanted to kill non-Muslims. It was not immediately known if he has a lawyer to speak for him.
UN health agency wants more details from Russia on suspected pneumonic plague case
GENEVA (AP) -- A top official with the World Health Organization says the U.N. health agency doesn’t know how a lab employee in Siberia died amid concerns about plague, and she called on Russia to provide more information. Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO director of epidemic and pandemic Management, said the agency doesn’t know what the ‘causative agent’ was behind the woman’s Oct. 2 death, and “this is why we need more information.”
Tropical Storm Isaias forms, is forecast to become a hurricane and hit US Gulf Coast this week
Tropical Storm Isaias has formed off eastern Mexico. Forecasters say it’s expected to strengthen into the first hurricane of the Atlantic season before hitting the U.S. Gulf Coast later in the week. The storm is on track to tie or break a 121-year-old record as the latest first Atlantic hurricane of the season. Isaias was centered Wednesday morning about 255 miles northwest of Progreso, Mexico. The Miami-based National Hurricane Center said the storm had maximum sustained winds of 50 mph. Forecasters predict the storm will become a hurricane on Thursday as it turns northward toward the U.S. Gulf Coast. Landfall is expected late Friday or early Saturday between the Mississippi coast and the Florida Panhandle.
Scientists win chemistry Nobel for discoveries about mirrored molecules that led to many drugs
STOCKHOLM (AP) -- Scientists Henri B. Kagan and Kenso Soai have won the Nobel Prize in chemistry for untangling mysterious mirror images in molecules, a discovery that has been used to develop countless drugs and transformed modern medicine. Many molecules come in versions that look alike but are not exactly identical, like right and left hands. When designing drugs to treat diseases, scientists want to be choosy about which mirror image they get. Kagan, who is from France, and Soai, from Japan, found ways to make chemistry pick a side, designing and describing reactions to produce the desired mirror image.
Lawyers seek to block Texas man’s execution, citing failed execution of Christa Pike
DALLAS (AP) -- Lawyers for a Texas man who fatally shot a convenience store clerk are asking a judge to stay his execution by lethal injection, citing the recent failed attempted execution of Christa Pike in Tennessee. Attorneys for Jamaal Howard wrote Wednesday in their motion for a stay of execution that the same drug used in Pike’s attempted execution, pentobarbital, would be used in Texas and posed the same risks. The lawyers argued that they believed Texas’ supply was also degraded. This would be the first scheduled execution in the U.S. since Tennessee’s failed attempt. Howard was found guilty of killing 42-year-old Vickie Swartout.
Trump’s $90 Medicare rebate rolls out, but millions are left out. Critics say it’s a political stunt
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump’s Trump’s promised $90 Medicare rebate rolls out this week, but millions of people will be left out. The rebates are estimated to cost $2 billion and are intended to help more than 20 million Medicare enrollees with their Part B premiums. Less than one-third of all Medicare recipients are eligible for the payouts. Not eligible are roughly 35 million Medicare Advantage enrollees, millions of other people with disabilities and low-income Medicare recipients. The election-year promise comes as the Novembers midterms are fast approaching, with the cost of living and healthcare expenses among the top issues for voters. Critics say the move is a political stunt.
Wall Street retreats from its record as stocks fall worldwide
NEW YORK (AP) -- U.S. stocks are pulling back from their record. The S&P 500 fell 0.2% Wednesday, a day after topping its prior all-time high set in August. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 302 points, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.4%. Stocks felt pressure as yields climb worldwide because of high inflation, rising debt loads for governments and other concerns. That’s in turn pushing downward on prices for all kinds of investments. France has been home to some of the biggest demonstrations because of its budget issues, and its stock index fell 1.2% for one of the world’s sharper losses.