DALLAS -- Dallas police confirm that one of their officers drew a gun on Houston running back Ryan Moats and his wife outside a hospital emergency room. The couple was headed to see Tamishia Moats' dying mother when an officer pulled their vehicle over for rolling through a red light, The Dallas Morning News reported Friday. "He was pointing a gun at me as soon as I got out of the car," Tamishia Moats told the newspaper. Officer ... [full story]

WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- The Canadian military was on standby Friday to respond to flooding in southern Manitoba as volunteers scrambled to fill sandbags against the rising Red River. A spring snowstorm dumped 10 inches of snow Thursday north of Winnipeg, where some 50 homes were flooded and 40 others were evacuated, the Winnipeg Sun reported Friday. Senior flood forecaster Alf Warkentin told the Sun it was an "almost unprecedented" situation where a major flood was preceded by ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- Like many other segments of the U.S. economy, political party committees are facing declining revenue and mounting debt, observers say. For this group, in addition to the recession and months of falling stock markets, there was a marathon political campaign that endlessly taxed donors. That makes for a dramatic decline in fundraising for both Democrats and Republicans, The Washington Post says. Combined donations from individuals to the six major party campaign committees have fallen by ... [full story]

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- A suicide bombing at a mosque filled with worshipers for Friday prayers in Pakistan's Khyber tribal region killed at least 50 people, officials said. The explosives went off as an imam began the service, the Pakistani newspaper Dawn reported. "The moment the imam said 'Allahu Akbar,' the blast went off," Tauseer Khan, who was hospitalized in Peshawar, told the newspaper. The blast occurred at a mosque in Bhagiari in the Tehsil Jamrud region of the ... [full story]

LONDON -- A parliamentary push to alter the 308-year-old rules of succession has come up for debate in the British House of Commons. Liberal Democrat MP Evan Harris says he has cross-party support for his measure to remove major discriminatory restrictions from the 1701 Act of Settlement, The Independent reported Friday. Harris' measure, co-sponsored by Roman Catholic parliamentarians, gives royal daughters equal claim to the British throne and eliminates the ban on heirs marrying Catholics. "To bring about ... [full story]

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley had sought an outright ban on capital punishment in his state but says he will sign tough new restrictions approved by lawmakers. The House of Delegates passed limitations that give Maryland the most stringent evidence requirements of any of the 35 states that permit capital punishment, The Sun newspaper in Baltimore reported Friday. "While it is not the full repeal that we had hoped for, I want to thank the ... [full story]

TORONTO -- A Toronto judge convicted a 37-year-old man on 49 counts of violently terrorizing his west-end neighborhood since 2003. Ralph Scala was arrested in July after his neighbors presented a petition with 119 signatures to police, the Toronto Star reported. "An entire community was terrorized," Crown prosecutor Jody Milstein told court Thursday, outlining the case for mischief, criminal harassment and threatening. Milstein said the victims of vandalism and threatening ranged from a 3-year-old girl to an 86-year-old ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- More U.S. troops in Afghanistan and more funds for Pakistan are two key conclusions of a just-completed review of the U.S. strategy for the region. U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday was expected to announce the new strategy, which includes sending an additional 4,000 troops to Afghanistan and a package that would triple U.S. aid to Pakistan to $1.5 billion a year over five years, CNN reported. The troops, who would be in addition to ... [full story]

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Alaska's Mount Redoubt volcano erupted twice Thursday, sending a black cloud of ash over the Kenai Peninsula. Officials said commercial airlines were halted nearly all flights in south-central Alaska. Following an initial blast at 8:34 a.m., a huge explosion 50 minutes later sent ash soaring 65,000 feet above sea level, The Anchorage Daily News reported. Alaska Airlines canceled all flights in and out of Anchorage for the rest of the day. Other airlines canceled or ... [full story]

BEIJING -- A radioactive device reported missing from a cement plant in China's Shaanxi province may have been found, officials said. Chinese officials said the lead ball containing Cesium-137 -- part of a nuclear scale used to measure production materials -- may have been located in a steel mill, the BBC reported Friday. Officials told the British broadcaster they detected what may be the missing Cesium-137, adding that it may have been melted down for scrap. The ... [full story]