World/Nation
• Islamic State, al-Qaida branch to stop fighting
ISTANBUL - Militant leaders from the Islamic State group and al-Qaida gathered at a farm house in northern Syria last week and agreed on a plan to stop fighting each other and work together against their opponents, a high-level Syrian opposition official and a rebel commander have told The Associated Press.
Such an accord could present new difficulties for Washington's strategy against the IS group. While warplanes from a U.S.-led coalition strike militants from the air, the Obama administration has counted on arming "moderate" rebel factions to push them back on the ground. Those rebels, already considered relatively weak and disorganized, would face far stronger opposition if the two heavy-hitting militant groups now are working together.
IS - the group which has seized nearly a third of Syria and Iraq with a campaign of brutality and beheadings this year - and al-Qaida's affiliate in Syria, known as the Nusra Front, have fought each other bitterly for more than a year to dominate the rebellion against Syrian President Bashar Assad.
• Trooper ambush suspect charged with terrorism
The man accused of opening fire on a Pennsylvania State Police barracks admitted killing a trooper because he was dissatisfied with government and wanted to "wake people up," according to court documents filed Thursday that provided the first indication of a possible motive.
Eric Frein spoke of wanting to start a revolution in a letter to his parents and called the slaying of Cpl. Bryon Dickson an "assassination" in a police interview after his Oct. 30 capture, the documents said.
State police charged Frein on Thursday with two counts of terrorism. He already faced first-degree murder and other counts in the Sept. 12 ambush, which killed Dickson, seriously wounded another trooper and sparked a 48-day manhunt in the Pocono Mountains.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Frein, who appeared by video at a brief hearing at which state police filed the additional charges. He has not entered a plea.
• Hagel to order overhaul of nuke management
WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has concluded that problems in the nation's nuclear forces are rooted in a lack of investment, inattention by high-level leaders and sagging morale, and is ordering top-to-bottom changes, vowing to invest billions of dollars to fix the management of the world's most deadly weapons, two senior defense officials told The Associated Press on Thursday.
Hagel ordered two lengthy reviews of the nuclear force after a series of stories by the AP revealed numerous problems in management, morale, security and safety, leading to several firings, demotions and other disciplinary actions against a range of Air Force personnel from generals to airmen.
Hagel's moves, while not dramatic, are designed to get at the core of the problem, the officials said.
The senior defense officials discussed the reviews and Hagel's response to them on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to be cited by name.
• Liberia president to end Ebola state of emergency
MONROVIA - Liberia's president said Thursday she is lifting a state of emergency imposed to control an Ebola outbreak which has ravaged the country, as Mali reported a fourth person now believed to have died of Ebola in its capital.
Also Thursday, Doctors Without Borders announced that accelerated clinical trials will be launched in West Africa to speed the search for a treatment for the virus that has killed more than 5,000 people.
In a nationwide address, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said enough progress has been made to lift emergency measures but added that the move does not mean the outbreak is over. There have been fewer Ebola cases in Monrovia, the capital, though fresh hotspots have emerged. One of those is near the border with Sierra Leone, which along with Guinea has also been hit hard by the disease.
• AC/DC not in touch with Rudd since charges
NEW YORK - Angus Young of AC/DC said his band mates have not been in touch with Phil Rudd since he was charged with threatening to kill and possessing methamphetamine and marijuana last week.
Young, 59, said in an interview Thursday that Rudd's behavior was somewhat erratic while recording the band's new album, "Rock or Bust," which is due to be released on Dec. 2.
"Well, we had a few problems. The situation he's in - that took everyone by surprise. We had a few issues before with him, even when we were recording it was hard even to get to him to do the recording," Young said, sitting in a room with bassist Cliff Williams.
"And then he was supposed to show up to do promos with us, to do video shoots and a few shoots and a few other things, and he never showed up for that either. So, at this stage, it's a pretty tough call for us."
Rudd, who has been with the band on and off for nearly four decades, was released last week. He is expected to appear in court in New Zealand on Nov. 27.