Lee hopes Clinton finally talks Benghazi
WASHINGTON, Jan. 23 (UPI) -- U.S. Sen. Mike Lee says he hopes Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will finally answer questions about the Libya terror attack that killed four Americans.
"We weren't getting answers to a lot of our questions" when Clinton gave a classified briefing to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Sept. 20, Lee, R-Utah, told KSL radio, Salt Lake City.
That closed-door briefing -- which also included Deputy Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter, National Intelligence Director James Clapper and Joint Chiefs of Staff Vice Chairman Adm. James Winnefeld Jr. -- was held nine days after the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, was attacked by a heavily armed group the Obama administration later said were terrorists. The attack killed U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.
Lee told KSL Tuesday Clinton's testimony then was full of "unsatisfying responses."
"Some of that was understandable at the time because she didn't have all the information, but I'm curious to see what we'll hear from her," Lee told the radio station.
Clinton's televised testimony Wednesday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee was to begin at 9 a.m. and start before the House Foreign Affairs Committee at 2 p.m.
Friend: Nancy Lanza did not secure guns
NEWTOWN, Conn., Jan. 23 (UPI) -- Nancy Lanza kept her guns in an unlocked closet in her Newtown, Conn., home as she grew increasingly worried about her son's mental state, a friend says.
The friend, who did not want to be identified, told the New York Daily News police appear to believe Adam Lanza had a "psychotic break" before the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre. Lanza killed his mother Dec. 14 before driving to the school and gunning down 20 students and six staff members, finally taking his own life.
The friend said Nancy Lanza had taken her son to a psychiatrist and Adam would "scream and shout" when his mother urged him to get out of the house.
Nancy Lanza's arsenal included the Bushmaster XM-15 used at the school, two handguns and four rifles.
"They weren't under lock and key," the friend said. "She kept her stuff all together in a closet."
The friend was interviewed by Connecticut State Police.
"They told me they think he had a psychotic break and were asking if Nancy mentioned anything about Adam not taking his medications," the friend told the newspaper.
Netanyahu to form new government
JERUSALEM, Jan. 23 (UPI) -- With more than 99 percent of the vote counted, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will be tasked with forming the next government, officials said.
"It is a great honor, but it is also a great responsibility. It is an opportunity to make changes that the citizens of Israel wish upon themselves, and that will serve all the citizens of Israel," Netanyahu said in remarks broadcast by Israeli television. "I intend on making those changes by forming the broadest coalition possible, and I have begun working toward that tonight."
Early Wednesday results of Israel's elections for the 19th Knesset released by the Central Elections Committee showed Netanyahu's Likud-Beitenu slate had done worse than predicted, winning 31 seats, 11 fewer than the 42 held by the two parties in the last Parliament, Israeli media reports said.
Netanyahu came under harsh criticism from within his own party for merging with former Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's party prior to the elections. Critics suggested had he run alone, the number of seats would have been higher, The Jerusalem Post said.
18 hunters killed in Nigerian market
DAMBOA, Nigeria, Jan. 23 (UPI) -- Seven gunmen opened fire on a busy market in Damboa, Nigeria, killing 18 hunters who were selling bush meat.
The gunmen, armed with AK 47 rifles, stormed the market Monday, heading straight for the group of hunters, Nigerian newspaper the Daily Trust reported Wednesday.
"The attackers audaciously moved straight to the stand of their targets in the market and opened fire ... there was no sign of fear or sympathy," said an observer whose name was not reported.
"[The gunmen] had dropped some notes, warning that selling bush meat is against the teachings of Islam and eating the meat of monkey is haram," or forbidden by Islamic law, he added.
The attack sent the busy marketplace into chaos as customers and traders tried to run for safety, observers said.
No group had claimed responsibility for the attack as of Wednesday, the Daily Trust reported.
KKK distributes flyers in Georgia
COVINGTON, Ga., Jan. 23 (UPI) -- Residents in Newton County, Georgia, said they woke up earlier this week to flyers from the Ku Klux Klan tossed at the end of their driveways.
Police collected more than 30 of the flyers, which were found Monday morning, Martin Luther King Day, WGCL-TV, Atlanta, reported Tuesday.
"We told our members to go out and pretty much counteract Martin Luther King's birthday, who was a known communist -- and we decided to put out Klan literature," said Chris Barker, an imperial wizard with the Klan. "[It was] more of a recruitment drive to let the neighborhood know the Klan is there and the Klan isn't going anywhere."
Barker's number was listed as a contact on the flyer, WGCL reported.
Newton County resident Wendy Lozynski called the people responsible for distributing the flyers "close-minded morons."
