Combined briefs package

Air Force Academy cadets are no longer required to say “so help me God” at the end of the Honor Oath, school officials said Friday. The words were made optional after a complaint from the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, an advocacy group, that they violated the constitutional concept of religious freedom. Academy Superintendent Lt. Gen. Michelle Johnson said the change was made to respect cadets’ freedom of religion. The oath states, “We will not lie, steal or cheat, nor tolerate among us anyone who does. Furthermore, I resolve to do my duty and to live honorably, so help me God.”

TENNESSEE

Recruiter held in superiors’ shootings

A Tennessee National Guard recruiter was charged in federal court on Friday, accused of shooting three of his superiors Thursday at an armory after he was told he would be relieved of duty and dismissed from active service. U.S. District Magistrate Judge Diane Vescovo charged Sgt. 1st Class Amos Patton, 42, with committing assaults within the maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States and carrying a weapon during a federal crime of violence. The complaint does not detail the nature of the misconduct. All three men were treated and released.

MEXICO

Prosecutors say gang founder arrested

Police have arrested an alleged former top operator for the Arellano Felix drug gang, Mexican prosecutors said Friday. Suspect Manuel Aguirre Galindo faces drug trafficking and criminal conspiracy charges. An official of the attorney general’s office said Aguirre Galindo was arrested by federal police last weekend in Mexico City. The official said Aguirre Galindo is being held at a maximum security prison on Mexican charges, and that there is no current U.S. extradition request.

MEXICO

Second factory blast victim dies

A second worker injured in an explosion inside a candy factory in the border city of Ciudad Juarez died Friday at a hospital, authorities said. The 18-year-old man died while being treated for third degree burns, said government health system spokesman Rosendo Gaytan. Another 33 workers remain hospitalized, six of them in critical condition, he said. The blast Thursday on the second floor of the Dulces Blueberry factory caused the floor to collapse, injuring people working below.

CONNECTICUT

School’s demolition brings relief

Neighbors of the elementary school where 20 children and six adults were shot dead last year expressed relief as workers tore down parts of it on Friday. Demolition of the Sandy Hook Elementary School, which began in earnest on Thursday, is expected to take several weeks. A task force of 28 Newtown elected officials voted unanimously in May to raze the school and build a new one on the property where it is located. Newtown has accepted a $50 million state grant for the project, and a new school is expected to open by December 2016. Students have been attending classes in a neighboring town.

SOUTH KOREA

North frees six men from prison

Six South Koreans who had been held in North Korea on charges of illegal entry returned to their home country on Friday after Pyongyang released them in a gesture that could help ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula. The six men were handed over to the South Korean authorities at the border village of Panmunjom, the South’s Unification Ministry said in a statement. North Korean officials also handed over the remains of a woman. They said the woman was the wife of one of the six men, and that she was killed during a quarrel with her husband, South Korean officials said.

IOWA

Squirrel accused of vandalizing bicycle

A squirrel roaming a community college in northern Iowa has become the No. 1 suspect in a vandalized bicycle incident. Officials at Iowa Lakes Community College in Estherville said the rodent chewed through two tires, a bicycle seat, a headlight and a taillight in the span of two days beginning Wednesday. The Sioux City Journal reported that the bicycle’s owner, an associate math professor, reported the incidents to Estherville police. Another professor later came forward with a photo that shows the squirrel attacking the bike. The professor has since parked his bicycle indoors.