CAIRO

At least 15 die as police, protesters clash in streets

Anti-government protesters fought street battles with police in Cairo and other cities on Sunday, the fourth anniversary of the country’s 2011 uprising, as clashes left at least 15 people dead and dozens injured. Another two people died when an explosive device they were planting under a high-voltage tower in the Nile Delta exploded prematurely, according to security officials.

Most of the deaths took place in Cairo’s eastern Matariyah district – an Islamist stronghold where police used tear gas and birdshots to disperse supporters of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group armed with firebombs and rocks. At least nine protesters and one police conscript were killed in the clashes there, the officials said.

Two other protesters and two policemen were killed elsewhere in Cairo on Sunday, and one in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

NEW YORK

Home Depot employee kills co-worker and self

An employee at a Home Depot store in Manhattan argued with a co-worker before fatally shooting him and then killing himself on Sunday, police said, sending panicked workers and shoppers rushing to get away from the gunfire.

The 31-year-old man entered the store on West 23rd Street around 2:45 p.m. He exchanged words with a 38-year-old co-worker in the store’s lighting section and then pulled out a gun, shooting the other man in the abdomen and chest, police said. The man was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The gunman then shot himself in the head, said New York Police Department Capt. Steven Wren. It was unclear what the argument was about, and no identifications were released. A gun was recovered at the scene.

Wren said about 70 employees were in the store, but no one else was injured.

MONTGOMERY, Ala.

Judge limits delay over same-sex marriage ruling

A federal judge late Sunday put a two-week hold on her decision that overturned Alabama’s gay marriage ban but said same-sex couples should not be kept in a lengthy state of legal limbo

U.S. District Judge Callie V. S. Granade refused the Alabama attorney general’s request to put her ruling on indefinite hold until the U.S. Supreme Court takes up the decision of gay marriage later this year. However, Granade did issue a 14-day stay to give the state time to appeal her decision to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The stay will expire Feb. 9 unless the court extends it.

SEATAC, Wash.

‘Security concern’ sparks plane evacuation, diversion

Two planes were evacuated upon arrival at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Sunday due to what a spokesman called a “security concern.”

Airport spokesman Perry Cooper says a JetBlue flight from Long Beach, California, and a regional SkyWest jet from Phoenix were the planes involved. The flights arrived late Sunday afternoon.

Cooper said that as a precaution, passengers were bused to their gates from the airport’s third runway. He said the matter was under investigation and that he did not have further details.

Additionally, a Delta Air Lines spokesman says a flight from Los Angeles to Orlando was diverted to Dallas Sunday afternoon due to “a security concern.”

– From news service reports

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