Here's what's happening across the United States and around the world today.
Pakistan: 21 killed in Taliban school attack
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — A Pakistani hospital official says 20 students and one soldier have been killed in a Taliban attack on a school in the northwestern city of Peshawar.
The spokesman for the hospital says the killed soldier was a member of the Pakistani paramilitary forces.
The attack started with the Taliban storming the military school in Peshawar this morning and shooting at random.
Australia: Gunman not on watch list
SYDNEY (AP) — Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott is describing the gunman at a Sydney cafe as "a deeply disturbed individual" known to the police, but he says the man was not on a terror watch list.
U.S. & World
Stories that affect your life across the U.S. and around the world.
Fifty-year-old Man Haron Monis and two of his hostages were killed as a 16-hour siege ended early Tuesday in a barrage of gunfire.
During the siege, Monis had forced some of his hostages to hold in the shop's window a flag with an Islamic declaration of faith.
US seeks to use bin Laden letters at terror trial
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. prosecutors want to use letters recovered during the raid that killed Osama bin Laden to bolster their case against a terror suspect on trial in federal court in New York.
The prosecutors say the letters show that Abu Anas al-Libi actively participated in al-Qaida. Al-Libi was nabbed in Tripoli in October 2013 and brought to the United States to face trial in the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Africa that killed 224 people.
Search intensifies for gunman who killed 6
PENNSBURG, Pa. (AP) — Six family members have been fatally shot in suburban Philadelphia, and police are searching for one victim's former husband, who's suspected of committing the rampage.
Thirty-three-year-old Nicole Stone was found dead after a neighbor saw her ex-husband fleeing just before 5 a.m. Monday with their two daughters. At two other nearby homes, Stone's sister, brother-in-law and 14-year-old niece had been killed along with her mother and grandmother. A 17-year-old nephew is clinging to life.
Stone's ex-husband, 35-year-old Bradley Michael Stone remained at large early Tuesday as a police manhunt intensified.
The two were locked in a child custody dispute. Neighbors say Nicole Stone said she feared he'd kill her.
Brad Stone, a Marine veteran, had remarried and has an infant son. Neighbors say Nicole Stone became engaged over the summer.
Protesters block roads by Oakland police building
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Some 25 people are under arrest in Oakland, California, after a protest against the recent deadly police killings of unarmed black men in Ferguson, Missouri and New York City.
Protesters on Monday night chained themselves to the doors of police headquarters and prevented people from getting inside.
The city and nearby Berkeley have been a hotbed for protests against police in recent weeks.
Officer on leave after tweets threaten protesters
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A police officer is on leave as his department investigates comments posted online that threaten those protesting the recent deaths of unarmed black men in Ferguson, Missouri, and New York.
The San Jose Police Department says Officer Phillip White was sidelined after officials learned of statements from his Twitter account.
In the tweets, White said he would kill anyone who threatens him or his family. He also said he would be off-duty at the movies with his gun if anyone "feels they can't breathe or their lives matter."
The tweets played on protest slogans "I can't breathe" and "black lives matter."
Efforts to reach White through the police officer's union were unsuccessful.
The tweets have been deleted.
Closing arguments set in exchange student shooting
MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) — Closing arguments are set for Tuesday in the trial of a Montana man who shot and killed a German exchange student he caught in his garage.
Markus Kaarma is charged with deliberate homicide after firing four shots into his Missoula garage in April, killing the 17-year-old. Prosecutors allege that Kaarma's garage had been broken into before, and his intent was to harm the teen.
The defense argues that Kaarma was under stress from the previous burglary and he feared for his family.
Obama: New surgeon general will help US save lives
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama says Dr. Vivek Murthy's confirmation to serve as U.S. surgeon general will better position the nation to save lives abroad and protect Americans at home.
Obama says Murthy has a lifetime of public health experience dealing with diseases and health promotion that he'll bring to the job. He says Murthy's confirmation also helps the U.S. continue to combat Ebola in the U.S. and in West Africa. Obama says Murthy will start right away to ensure every American has necessary information to keep their families safe.
The Senate approved Murthy's nomination late Monday despite longstanding opposition from some lawmakers over his public support for gun control. Murthy is a 37-year-old physician and Harvard Medical School instructor.
Camille Cosby defends husband
NEW YORK (AP) — Camille Cosby is standing by her comedian husband who's accused of having drugged and sexually assaulted more than a dozen women years ago.
The woman who's been married to Bill Cobsy for 50 years says the man his accusers describe is "a man I do not know."
At least 15 women are accusing Cosby, including one who says he molested her at the Playboy Mansion in 1974 when she was just 15 years old.
Family of executed Ohio inmate sues expert witness
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The family of an Ohio inmate put to death during a prolonged execution is suing the state's former expert witness on lethal injection.
The expanded lawsuit alleges that Dr. Mark Dershwitz knew that inmate Dennis McGuire would suffer during the January execution but helped create the state's new lethal injection policy anyway.
Dershwitz, a University of Massachusetts anesthesiologist and pharmacologist, said in June that he would no longer act as an expert witness for states defending their lethal injection methods.
Hawaii lava on course to hit gas station, stores
HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaiian officials say lava from the Big Island's Kilauea volcano is on course to reach a shopping center in seven to 10 days.
The lava is about a mile from the stores and a gas station, but there's still a great deal of uncertainty about when it might hit. Until then, the shopping center's grocery store is encouraging customers to keep coming until it closes its doors.
Korean Air to be sanctioned for nut rage cover-up
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea's transport ministry says Korean Air Lines Co. will face sanctions for pressuring employees to lie during a government probe into the nut rage incident.
The transport ministry said Tuesday Korean Air could face up to 21 days of flight suspensions or a $1.3 million fine for violating aviation law.
Cho Hyun-ah, the daughter of Korean Air's chairman, ordered a crew member off a Dec. 5 flight, forcing it to return to the gate, after she was served macadamia nuts in a bag, instead of on a plate.
The ministry said the airline will also be punished because Cho lied during the probe and because the captain was negligent in his duties.
It said Cho used abusive language to flight attendants but could not ascertain if she used violence.
That's what's happening. Read more stories to jump start your day in our special Breakfast Buzz section.
