combined briefs package

Soldiers and government-affiliated militias stormed a military base occupied by gunmen in Libya’s capital on Saturday, sparking fresh fighting that left four dead a day after a deadly militia attack on protesters. Armed residents and pro-government militiamen set up checkpoints across Tripoli as thousands of protesters gathered in the city center to mourn the 43 killed in Friday’s attack when militias fired on a crowd urging the dissolution of unlawful armed groups.

WASHINGTON

FDA issues Medtronic device warning

Federal health officials say that defects in some Medtronic devices used in heart procedures are severe enough that they could cause serious injury or death. The warning covers about 15,000 recalled guidewires, which are inserted through an artery and used to guide other devices into place, such as stents to hold open blocked arteries. Medtronic announced Friday night that the Food and Drug Administration had classified the recall as Class I, a category reserved for products with reasonable potential to cause serious injury or death.

CALIFORNIA

School’s Arab mascot sparks dispute

School officials in Southern California say a high school’s “Arabs” nickname is here to stay, but the divisive costumed mascot may undergo a facelift. The Coachella Valley Unified School District held a meeting Friday to address the recent dispute over the Coachella Valley High School Arabs and the bearded, snarling mascot wearing a traditional head covering and sporting a large hooked nose. The Arab mascot has existed since the 1920s. The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee sent a letter to the school district complaining that the mascot was stereotypical.

GERMANY

Anti-refugee march draws a crowd

A protest organized by Germany’s biggest far-right party drew hundreds Saturday to a torch-lit march against refugees for the second time this month. The demonstration, organized by the NPD party, was directed against the opening of a reception center for asylum seekers in the small eastern town of Schneeberg. Police spokeswoman Heidi Hennig said several participants are being investigated for carrying illegal weapons and attacking a press photographer. About 1,500 people also took part in a peaceful march for tolerance organized by town officials.

EGYPT

Islamists call for dialogue after coup

A Muslim Brotherhood-led alliance said Saturday it is ready for a national dialogue to end Egypt’s political standoff and for the first time did not demand the toppled Islamist president’s return to power. The country’s military-backed government signaled no intention to start talks with supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi. The call by the alliance of Islamist groups is the first formal proposition by Morsi supporters, who have organized near-daily protests demanding his return to office since he was removed in a popularly supported military coup July 3.

RUSSIA

Suicide bus bomber’s husband killed

Ending a nearly monthlong manhunt, security forces killed the husband of a suicide bomber who blew up a public bus last month in the city of Volgograd, Russian officials said Saturday. Officials said the husband, Dmitry Sokolov, 21, was killed, along with four others identified as rebels, by security forces in Dagestan, a violence-plagued republic in the North Caucasus. The bomber, Naida Asiyalova, blew herself up on a crowded bus in the center of Volgograd, killing six other passengers in the fiery blast.

ISRAEL

Israel blocks witness in U.S. case

The Israeli government prohibited a former security official from testifying in a landmark anti-terrorism case in the United States, drawing accusations from victims of Palestinian violence that the country was caving in to political pressure from China. In a petition to a U.S. federal court, the Israeli government asked to quash the deposition subpoena issued to the witness, who could have tipped the scales in a case filed by families of victims of suicide bombers who accuse the Bank of China of facilitating terrorist funding through branches in the United States. Israel said the witness could divulge state secrets that would endanger Israel’s national security.