Secret Service chief resigns...Schoolchildren and others are monitored...US, Israel discuss differences

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secret Service Director Julia Pierson has resigned amid security lapses at the White House. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh (jay) Johnson says Pierson offered her resignation, and he accepted it. The move came one day after her appearance before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, a hearing that focused on recent security lapses at the White House. Pierson had worked at the Secret Service for 30 years.

DALLAS (AP) — Five schoolchildren are among as many as 18 people who are being monitored by health officials in Texas, after they may have been exposed to a man who's become the first Ebola patient diagnosed in the United States. Thomas Duncan has been kept in isolation at a Dallas hospital since Sunday. His sister says he had told health care workers two days earlier that he was visiting the U.S. from Liberia, but that they sent him home with antibiotics.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama and Israel's prime minister have been pressing each other today to address issues that are causing tensions between their two countries. Meeting at the White House, Obama called for an end to Palestinian civilian deaths. Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, warned of the consequences of leaving Iran with nuclear capabilities. As the meeting began, Israeli officials announced plans to move ahead with a controversial new housing development in east Jerusalem.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas court has ruled that Democrats can go without a U.S. Senate candidate after their nominee dropped out of the race against three-term Republican Sen. Pat Roberts. The ruling is a blow to the GOP in a key race in the national battle over Senate control. A panel of three judges said a state election law does not require Democrats to fill the candidate vacancy.

BATAVIA, N.Y. (AP) — Three Afghan military officers who sought refuge in Canada after skipping out on a military training exercise in Massachusetts say they were fleeing Taliban violence. But they say they now face the wrath of their own government as well. In interviews today inside the federal detention center outside Buffalo, New York, where they are being held, the three said they fear they will be killed or imprisoned and tortured if they are returned to Afghanistan.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.