In the Nation

TEXAS

12 Syrian refugees

scheduled to arrive

Twelve Syrian refugees were scheduled to arrive in Texas on Monday after the state eased up in its legal fight against resettlement agencies and the federal government.

The refugees, including six children, were expected to join relatives already settled in Dallas and Houston. An additional nine refugees are scheduled to arrive in Houston on Thursday.

State officials fought for weeks to stop them, saying Syrian refugees posed an unacceptable security risk after the deadly Nov. 13 Paris attacks.

But two days after suing one resettlement agency, the International Rescue Committee, and federal officials, the state on Friday withdrew its request for an order immediately stopping the refugees from entering Texas. The lawsuit remains pending, and a judge could hear arguments in the case this week. - AP
CALIFORNIA

Shooting upheld

Merced County's district attorney has concluded that police were justified in the shooting death of an 18-year-old student who went on a stabbing rampage at a central California university last month, injuring four. Authorities say that Faisal Mohammad burst into a classroom at the University of California, Merced on Nov. 4 and slashed fellow students over a dispute about a study group. - AP

CONNECTICUT

Harmony express

A railroad conductor became a choral conductor last week when he found his commuter train was carrying the Yale Glee Club. Dan Rubins, the club president, said they were headed back to New Haven from a concert in New York on Friday night. That's when conductor Bob McDonough asked them to sing. "I'm the conductor, let me conduct," he says on a video recorded by club member Greg Suralik and posted on Facebook. The group then breaks into the "Carol of the Bells." - AP