SAN BERNARDINO - Sheriff's deputies who believed they had cornered a fugitive former police officer in the mountains above Los Angeles did not purposely torch a cabin where a nine-day manhunt ended in a shootout, but may have caused the blaze by firing tear gas, officials said. Christopher Dorner, 33, was wanted in a killing spree targeting law enforcement officers that left four people dead. A man was surrounded inside the cabin in the San Bernardino National Forest. Investigators had not yet formally identified charred remains but they are believed to be those of Dorner. Reuters

JERUSALEM - An Australian-Israeli citizen who mysteriously died in prison after an apparent career in Israel's spy agency had denied the allegations against him and was considering a plea bargain just before he died, his lawyer said. Avigdor Feldman told Israeli Channel 10 he saw Ben Zygier a day before he allegedly committed suicide. Zygier was rational, Feldman said, adding the two discussed legal options. Feldman said that the allegations against Zygier were serious. On Wednesday, Israel admitted that it held a dual Israeli citizen under a false name for security reasons and that he died in prison in 2010. AP