Here's what's happening across the United States and around the world today.
Police shoot man who stabbed student in synagogue
NEW YORK (AP) — Authorities say a knife-wielding man stabbed an Israeli student in the head inside a Brooklyn synagogue before being fatally shot by police after he refused to drop the knife.
Police say the confrontation happened at 1:40 a.m. Tuesday at the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic headquarters in Crown Heights.
A witness flagged down a police officer, who confronted the 49-year-old man and told him to put the knife down. He initially did but then picked it up again. More officers responded and ordered the man to drop the knife. Police say he refused and charged at one of the officers, who fired once, striking him in the torso.
The attacker was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. He was not immediately identified.
The 22-year-old stabbing victim, identified by synagogue officials as Levi Rosenblatt, was in stable condition.
U.S. & World
Stories that affect your life across the U.S. and around the world.
White House: US embassies preparing for security risks from release of torture report Tuesday
WASHINGTON (AP) — American embassies, military units and other U.S. interests are preparing for possible security threats related to the release today of a report on the CIA's harsh interrogation techniques at secret overseas facilities after the 9/11 terror attacks.
The report from the Senate Intelligence Committee will be the first public accounting of the CIA's use of what critics call torture on al-Qaida detainees held at "black" sites in Europe and Asia. The committee is expected to release a 480-page executive summary of the 6,000-plus-page report compiled by Democrats on the panel.
U.S. officials who have read the report say it includes disturbing new details about the CIA's use of such techniques as sleep deprivation, confinement in small spaces, humiliation and the simulated drowning process known as waterboarding. It alleges that the harsh interrogations failed to produce unique and life-saving intelligence — a conclusion disputed by current and former intelligence officials, including CIA Director John Brennan.
It also asserts that the CIA lied about the covert program to officials at the White House, the Justice Department and congressional oversight committees.
Hagel: Iraq must end sectarian division
BAGHDAD (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel says America wants to help Iraq regain the territory it lost to Islamic State militants earlier this year, but in the end, only Iraq has the ability to create a lasting solution.
Hagel is in Baghdad to consult with Iraqi government officials and confer with U.S. commanders about the campaign. He says Iraq's government must put disastrous years of sectarian division behind it and find a way to bring the country together. Hagel, in Iraq for meetings with officials to discuss the Islamic State group militancy, says the old divisions undermined much of what the U.S. did to train Iraqi security forces.
The U.S. is committed to helping Iraq roll back the territorial gains the Islamic State militants made earlier this year, but President Barack Obama has ruled out sending American ground combat forces.
Hagel is on what is expected to be his last overseas trip as defense secretary.
Officials: 2 car bomb explosions kill 7 soldiers
UNDATED (AP) — Yemeni military officials say suspected al-Qaida militants have killed seven soldiers in two suicide car bomb attacks on a military encampment in the southern city of Sayoun.
The officials said the Tuesday attacks, which also injured eight soldiers, started with a suicide car bomb attack on the camp gates while a second suicide car bomber detonated his vehicle inside the camp grounds. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to brief the media.
Sayoun, the biggest city in Hadramawt province, witnessed fierce fighting last summer between the army and the local al-Qaida branch — which is viewed by Washington as the most active and dangerous al-Qaida affiliate.
UK police force warns staff after threat
LONDON (AP) — A British police force has told staff to be vigilant after it received an anonymous threat or warning.
West Midlands Police says staff have been told to take "additional security measures."
British media reported that the threat concerned a plot to kidnap and kill a police officer.
The force says patrols are continuing normally Tuesday. Assistant Chief Constable Garry Forsyth said the force had "received information relating to the safety of West Midlands Police officers and police staff" and was reminding all employees to be vigilant.
Security forces are on heightened alert amid fears a "lone wolf" an attack.
In May 2013, two self-styled "soldiers of Allah" stabbed an off-duty soldier to death in London. In October, five men were charged with plotting to kill police or soldiers in London.
Berkeley Mayor denounces 'thugs' among protesters as hundreds block train, highway
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — The mayor of Berkeley, California, is denouncing what he says is a "small element" among the protesters who have been out on the city's streets the past few nights. Mayor Tom Bates says "thugs" are using the demonstrations as a pretext for vandalism and obscuring the wider message calling for reform of policing policies nationwide. Hundreds of people marched through Berkeley for a third night a row Monday, blocking a major highway and stopping a train.
Hundreds of protesters are blocking a major highway and train tracks in the latest demonstration in Northern California against grand jury decisions not to indict white police officers in the deaths of two unarmed black men.
Protesters have blocked traffic on both sides of Interstate 80 in Berkeley, while another group stood on and sat on train tracks, forcing an Amtrak train to stop.
A large group of people began peacefully marching earlier Monday through downtown Berkeley. The first stop for demonstrators shouting, "Who do you protect? Peaceful protest" was the Berkeley Police Department. A line of officers in riot gear blocked them from getting close to the building.
The group then headed to a Bay Area Rapid Transit train station and sat outside, prompting authorities to briefly shut down the station. But as the night went on, the protesters divided into smaller groups that disrupted traffic and train passengers.
Greek group says U.Va.'s suspension isn't answer
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — A national sorority advocacy group says the University of Virginia's suspension of Greek activities isn't the answer to resolving sexual assault and student safety issues.
The National Panhellenic Council said Tuesday that it supports U.Va.'s plan to review the university's culture and practices and wants to be involved in addressing the issues. But the council says the suspension of sorority activities should be lifted.
University President Teresa Sullivan suspended Greek activities until Jan. 9 after Rolling Stone published an article describing an alleged gang rape at the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house. The magazine has since backed away from many details.
The council and two other national Greek organizations had urged the university on Sunday to lift the suspension. On Monday, the university said the suspension will remain in effect.
Liberians urged to travel last mile to beat Ebola
MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) — Liberia's president is urging her countrymen to travel the "very difficult last mile" to rid remote areas of Ebola.
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has set the goal of stopping Ebola transmission by the end of the year, a target that appears unrealistic but may be useful as a way to ensure people don't get complacent as infection rates stabilize in Liberia. There are concerns that, as the disease retreats, lax hygiene practices will return and allow it to flare again.
On Monday, Sirleaf launched "Operation Ebola Must Go," reminding Liberians that there are still Ebola hot spots, many in rural areas.
In remarks broadcast Tuesday, she said: "I have heard someone say to go from 100 to 90 is hard, but to go from 10 to 0 is even harder."
Obama wants diverse skills for federal managers
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama wants top management prospects in the federal bureaucracy to develop a more diverse set of skills as the upper ranks of the federal workforce retire in greater numbers.
He also is aiming to improve the quality of government service in the face of user satisfaction rankings that place the federal government below the private sector.
In a series of executive actions Tuesday, Obama is launching a leadership program for future government career executives with a goal of breaking out of a tradition of promoting senior bureaucrats from within their own agencies.
The administration is also creating a program of customer service awards to reward excellence by individual federal employees.
Mother, 2 young sons among 6 dead in plane crash
GAITHERSBURG, Md. (AP) — Federal investigators have recovered the cockpit voice and flight data recorders from a private jet that crashed into a Maryland house, killing all three aboard and a mother and her two young sons in the home.
Residents near a regional airport say they heard the plane flying much too low and struggling to remain in the air Monday.
Soon, it crashed into a two-story wood-frame home, which was immediately engulfed in a fireball.
The fuselage of the jet crashed into the front lawn of an adjacent home, which was heavily damaged by fire. Investigators believe one of its wings, which had fuel inside, sheared off and tore through the front of the home where the mother and children died.
Investigators plan to remain for up to seven days collecting evidence.
Philadelphia firefighter killed in line of duty
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A Philadelphia firefighter has died from injuries sustained while fighting an early morning house fire in the city's West Oak Lane neighborhood.
Fire officials confirmed the death Tuesday morning about two hours after the department responded to rowhouse blaze.
Officials tell WCAU-TV the firefighter killed was a 36-year-old woman based at Engine 64 in the Lawncrest neighborhood.
The fire department says it's holding off on releasing additional information.
The last Philadelphia firefighter killed in the line of duty was Capt. Michael Goodwin on April 6, 2013. The 53-year-old veteran died in a roof collapse while battling a fire in a three-story building in the city's Queen Village section.
Korean Airlines executive resigns over nut dispute
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A top executive of Korean Air Lines has resigned amid mounting public criticism that she delayed a plane over how she was served macadamia nuts.
Company officials said Tuesday that Chairman Cho Yang-ho has accepted the resignation of Cho Hyun-ah, his eldest daughter and a vice president.
The junior Cho was under public fire following media revelations that a recent Korean Air Lines flight from New York to South Korea returned to the gate because she ordered a senior crew member off the plane. Cho was angered that she was served bagged macadamia nuts instead of nuts on a plate.
The airline had apologized for inconveniencing passengers. But it also said it was "natural" for Cho to fault crew's ignorance of procedures.
South Africa judge to respond to Pistorius appeal
PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — A South African judge says she will respond to the prosecution's appeal of the Oscar Pistorius verdict on Wednesday.
Prosecutor Gerrie Nel told the Pretoria High Court that the decision to acquit Pistorius of the murder of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, should be overturned. Nel also argued that star-athlete's punishment was "shockingly inappropriate."
Pistorius' defense attorney, Barry Roux, argued against allowing the prosecution to appeal the verdict and sentence.
Judge Thokozile Masipa, who presided over the Pistorius trial, will also decide whether the case can be heard at the Supreme Court of Appeal.
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