Nation, world briefs 11/22/2015

Man swings sword at Apple store

NEW YORK -- A man swinging a samurai sword at an Apple store terrified shoppers Friday. The man walked into the Manhattan store and began waving the sword, authorities said. A video posted online showed him swinging the sword as he walked down a staircase. Lawyer Nancy Birnbaum, who lives nearby, said she was browsing at the store when she spotted the man on the staircase. "I thought he was doing some sort of performance art, but then he pulls out this sword with a huge 2-foot-long blade, and it was dead obvious that it was a real sword," she said. "I've never been so terrified in my entire life." The man appeared to be emotionally disturbed, police said. He was taken into custody at the scene, and his name was not released. No injuries were reported.

Ford workers OK contract with UAW

DETROIT -- Ford workers narrowly approved a new four-year contract, wrapping up five months of negotiations between the United Auto Workers union and Detroit automakers. The UAW said late Friday that Ford's contract passed with a 51.4 percent of the vote. The pact covers 53,000 U.S. hourly workers at 22 plants. Union leaders held a news conference last week to push for the Ford agreement when they feared workers would reject it. Some workers said the union didn't push hard enough to win back things they lost in previous agreements, including annual wage increases. They also wanted a two-tier wage system eliminated immediately instead of over eight years, as the contract promises. But union leaders warned they might not get a better deal from Ford if workers rejected the agreement.

4 Israelis wounded in stabbing attack

JERUSALEM -- An assailant stabbed and wounded four Israelis, including a 13-year-old girl, in southern Israel on Saturday before fleeing the scene, setting off a large manhunt, police said. Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said the stabbing attacks appeared to be ideologically driven, rather than criminal, and police were sweeping the city of Kiryat Gat to try and apprehend the attacker. The attack appeared to be part of a two-month spree of violence ignited by tensions surrounding a Jerusalem holy site. The unrest has spread across Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza border. Since mid-September, Palestinian attacks have killed 17 Israelis, mostly in stabbings, while 84 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire.

2 Bangladesh rebel leaders executed

NEW DELHI -- A senior jail official in Bangladesh said two influential opposition leaders have been executed for committing war crimes during the country's 1971 independence war against Pakistan. Senior jail superintendent Mohammad Jahangir Kabir said early today Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury and Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid were executed at 12:55 a.m. at Dhaka Central Jail. Kabir said, "They have been hanged together, at the same time." The two men were convicted by a special tribunal in 2013 on charges including genocide, rape and torture during the 1971 war.

-- From wire reports