Nation, world briefs 9/17/2015

Execution halted for Oklahoma man

McALESTER, Okla. -- An appeals court halted the execution of an Oklahoma man with hours to spare Wednesday after his attorneys said they had uncovered new evidence, including a fellow inmate's claim he overheard another man convicted in the case admit he acted alone. Richard Eugene Glossip was convicted twice of ordering the killing of Barry Van Treese, who owned the Oklahoma City motel where Glossip worked. Motel handyman Justin Sneed admitted robbing and beating Van Treese with a baseball bat but said he did so only after Glossip promised to pay him $10,000. Prosecutors alleged Glossip was afraid Van Treese was about to fire him for embezzling money and managing the motel poorly. Glossip, 52, was scheduled to be executed Wednesday, but the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals agreed to reschedule the lethal injection for Sept. 30.

Body found in ruins of California wildfire

MIDDLETOWN, Calif. -- A body was found Wednesday at the site of a wildfire in the Sierra Nevada foothills, while dogs were used to search for a former police reporter and several other people authorities fear were killed in a separate blaze in Northern California. The unidentified body was found in a home among ruins of the wildfire burning 60 miles southeast of Sacramento in Amador and Calaveras counties. The death came in addition to an elderly, disabled woman whose body was found Sunday in the ruins of her Lake County home. Authorities searched nearby for 69-year-old Leonard Neft, who was reported missing by his family. His burned-out car was discovered on a route he would have used to escape.

Friend of Charleston suspect probed

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- A friend of the white man accused of shooting nine black churchgoers to death in Charleston is being investigated by federal authorities, an official said Wednesday. A federal law-enforcement official said a letter was sent last month telling Joey Meek of Lexington, South Carolina, he was under investigation for lying to law enforcement and knowing about a crime before or after it was committed but failing to report it. Meek has said Dylann Roof stayed with him in Lexington County before the June 17 shootings at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. Meek told the AP in June how Roof, while getting drunk on vodka, had complained "blacks were taking over the world" and "someone needed to do something about it for the white race."

Kerry: U.S. weighs Syria-Russia talks

WASHINGTON -- Secretary of State John Kerry says the Obama administration is weighing an offer from Russia to have military-to-military talks and meetings on the situation in Syria. Kerry said Wednesday that Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov made the proposal in a phone call Tuesday, and the White House, Pentagon and State Department were considering it. Kerry suggested he favored such an idea, noting the United States wants a picture of what Russia's intentions are in Syria after a military buildup there.

-- From wire reports