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WASHINGTON (AP) — A Pentagon official says the U.S. has started flying armed drones over Baghdad to protect U.S. civilians and military forces in the Iraqi capital. The official said the flights started in the last 24 to 48 hours to bolster manned and unmanned reconnaissance flights the military has been sending over Iraq in recent weeks. The official stressed that the armed drones are to provide U.S. protection and that President Barack Obama still has not authorized airstrikes against Sunni militants who have been overrunning territory in other parts of the country.
RIDGELAND, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi attorney and tea party official has been found dead at his home, an apparent suicide. Mark Mayfield was among four men who'd been charged with conspiring to take photos in a nursing home of the wife of U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran. Photos were later used in an anti-Cochran political video. Mayfield's death comes days after Cochran narrowly beat Chris McDaniel in a hard-fought runoff primary. McDaniel had tea party support.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Golden Gate Bridge is a step closer to getting a suicide barrier. Bridge officials in San Francisco today approved a $76 million funding package for a net system that would prevent people from jumping to their deaths. The funding package includes $20 million in bridge toll revenue. Federal money will provide the bulk of the remaining funding, though the state is also pledging $7 million. More than 1,400 people have jumped to their deaths since the bridge opened in 1937.
SOMERSET, Ky. (AP) — Officials say a defense attorney who was well known in his small, southern Kentucky town has been shot and killed outside of his law office by a man who wanted his help but was turned down. Police in Somerset say Mark Stanziano was shot at least four times this morning by a man who lives across the street, and who'd been waiting for him. Police aren't saying why the man had been looking for Stanziano's help -- but they say it was an issue on which the lawyer wouldn't have been able to do anything. The suspect is charged with murder.
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — The soccer players' union, and the sport's governing body, are in agreement -- Luis Suarez needs help. He's been handed a lengthy suspension after biting a rival player during the World Cup soccer tournament in Brazil. It was the third biting incident involving the striker from Uruguay who also plays for Liverpool. Suarez returned to his native country early today, but arrived too late to see the hundreds of fans who had gathered last night to give him a hero's welcome.
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