WASHINGTON

Navy SEALs take control of stateless oil tanker

A team of Navy SEALs has taken control of a stateless oil tanker seized earlier in the month by Libyan rebels, the Pentagon said Monday.

The SEALs boarded the tanker Morning Glory late Sunday in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea near Cyprus. Rear Adm. John Kirby said no one was injured in the operation, which was approved by President Barack Obama.

The vessel, whose ownership remains a mystery, was carrying stolen Libyan crude oil from the port of Al-Sidra. Libyan officials had ordered the tanker confiscated, but it managed to escape.

The Pentagon said the Morning Glory will return to Libya under the control of sailors from the USS Stout. It was not clear which Libyan port the vessel was sailing for.

The Morning Glory previously sailed under a North Korean flag, but North Korea says it has nothing to do with the ship.

SEATTLE

Police arrest suspect who spoke of bombing subway

A California man who spoke of wanting to bomb the Los Angeles subway system was arrested near the Canadian border in Washington state and charged with attempting to travel to Syria to fight alongside Islamic extremists, federal prosecutors said Monday.

Nicholas Teausant, 20, of Acampo, Calif., an unincorporated area near Lodi, was taken off a northbound Amtrak bus overnight just short of the border.

Beginning last spring, Teausant began expressing on his online photography account a desire to see America’s downfall, saying “I would love to join Allah’s army but I don’t even know how to start,” the complaint said. Later, he took to another online forum to say he hoped to fight in Syria, the document states.

CHICAGO

Best-selling weight-loss author sentenced to 10 years

Best-selling author Kevin Trudeau, whose name became synonymous with late-night TV pitches, was sentenced to 10 years in prison Monday for bilking consumers through ubiquitous infomercials for his book, “The Weight Loss Cure ‘They’ Don’t Want You to Know About.”

As he imposed the sentence prosecutors had requested, U.S. District Judge Ronald Guzman portrayed the 50-year-old Trudeau as a habitual fraudster going back to his early adulthood. So brazen was Trudeau, the judge said, he once even used his own mother’s Social Security number in a scheme.

“Since his 20s, he has steadfastly attempted to cheat others for his own gain,” Guzman said, adding that Trudeau is “deceitful to the very core.”

NEW YORK

Jury begins deliberations in Madoff workers’ trial

Jurors have begun deliberating the fate of five former employees of jailed financier Bernard Madoff after hearing dozens of witnesses in New York testify about the historic fraud.

The trial focused on what went on within Madoff’s offices during a fraud that lasted decades. Thousands of investors lost nearly $20 billion, along with double that in fictitious profits.

Those on trial include Madoff’s secretary, his director of operations, an account manager and two computer programmers.

UNITED NATIONS

Ambassador confident some U.S. troops will stay

Afghanistan’s U.N. ambassador said Monday he is “certain” the government will soon sign an agreement with the United States that would allow some U.S. troops to remain behind after the final withdrawal of American soldiers at the end of the year.