Few answers in base bloodshed

Neighbors, friends say suspect said goodbye days before attack

An Army psychiatrist suspected of opening fire on fellow soldiers at Fort Hood cleaned out his apartment and left a phone message saying goodbye to a friend in the days before the rampage that left 13 people dead, neighbors said Friday.

British prime minister scolds Afghan leaders

Brown threatens to withhold additional troops over widespread corruption

Facing surging public opposition to the war in Afghanistan, Prime Minister Gordon Brown delivered a stinging rebuke Friday to the government in Kabul, threatening to withhold additional British troops if it did not act swiftly to combat widespread corruption.

House OKs bill to safeguard water plants

The House approved legislation Friday aimed at making chemical and water treatment facilities less vulnerable to terrorist attack.

Aunt: Hasan no fighter, taunted on religion, wanted out of Army

He prayed every day at the Muslim Community Center in Silver Spring, Md., and had sought for several years to be discharged from the U.S. Army, according to his aunt, but was on the eve of his first deployment to war.

Louisiana seizes ACORN offices’ computers

State investigators raided ACORN offices Friday, taking away computer hard drives and documents as part of a probe into allegations of embezzlement and tax fraud when the organization’s national headquarters was based in New Orleans.

Van stolen in ’74 found at seaport

A Volkswagen van stolen 35 years ago in Washington state has been found in a shipping container at the Los Angeles/ Long Beach seaport.

U.S. hopes to save shaky Honduran deal

Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya said Friday that a deal that could have returned him to power is defunct. Interim President Roberto Micheletti said the same deal has been successfully accomplished.

Pakistan gunmen attack army officer

Gunmen on a motorcycle fired on the car of an army brigadier in Islamabad on Friday morning, the third such drive-by attack against senior military officers in 15 days.

The world in brief

QUOTE OF THE DAY “If the government fails to meet these five tests, it will have not only failed its own people, it will have forfeited its right to international support.” British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, threatening to withhold British troops from Afghanistan if the government did not make improvements in five key areas, including combating corruption.

The nation in brief

QUOTE OF THE DAY “I cannot comprehend that the enemy was among us.” Jose Padilla, the owner of an apartment complex lived in by Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, who is suspected of opening fire on fellow soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas, killing 13

1 dead, 5 hurt in office shooting

Orlando suspect reportedly says he did it ‘because they left me to rot’

A gunman opened fire Friday in the offices of an engineering firm where he was let go more than two years ago, killing one person and injuring five, authorities said.

Getting it straight

The Democrat-Gazette wants its news reports to be fair and accurate.

Broad sex education seen effective

Sex-education programs that encourage teenagers to delay sexual activity but also teach them how to reduce their chances of getting pregnant or a sexually transmitted disease cut risky sexual behavior, increase condom use and lower the chances of getting the AIDS virus and other infections, an independent expert panel concluded in a report released Friday.

Berlin inaugurates repainted wall part

The Berlin Wall’s longest remaining stretch has been restored to its state of nearly two decades ago.

In the news

President Barack Obama, in his first visit to Walter Reed Army Medical Center since taking office, spent nearly two hours Friday with 19 hospitalized soldiers, as well as the families of three soldiers in intensive care, and awarded two Purple Hearts.