A former Taliban commander has been sentenced in New York to 42 years in prison for crimes including the 2008 kidnapping of a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. Haji Najibullah’s sentencing Tuesday capped a daylong proceeding in Manhattan federal court. The reporter, David Rohde, described how Najibullah took part in the abduction of him, another reporter and their driver. Rohde, who is MSNOW’s national security reporter and previously worked for The New York Times and other publications, told Judge Katherine Polk Failla that he was “surprised and disappointed” that Najibullah was trying to blame others and circumstances for his role in the crime. The three escaped from a Taliban-controlled compound in Pakistan's tribal areas after seven months in captivity.

Police say a man held 10 people hostage inside a California office building before the FBI shot and killed him, bringing a more than 15-hour standoff to an end. The Bakersfield Police Department says the hostages were found unharmed early Wednesday inside the downtown Bakersfield building that houses a bank and a school district office. The standoff began Tuesday afternoon when officers responded to a call of a bomb threat. Authorities say the suspect was an Army veteran who was dishonorably discharged, had a history of trouble with law enforcement and was a registered sex offender.