Midday Roundup: American pals honored for heroism on French train

Courage under fire. Three Americans and one Briton received France’s highest honor this morning for stopping an attacker on a passenger train traveling from Amsterdam to Paris on Friday. Childhood friends Anthony Sadler, Spencer Stone, and Alek Skarlatos, along with fellow passenger, Chris Norman, tackled and subdued a heavily armed man who had opened fire. Stone serves in the U.S. Air Force, and Skarlatos recently returned from a National Guard deployment in Afghanistan. The heroes stopped Ayoub El-Khazzani, a Moroccan on terrorist watch lists in several countries. El-Khazzani denies being linked to an Islamist terror group and has said he only intended to rob the train. At a ceremony today at Élysée Palace in France, President Francois Hollande awarded the four men with the Legion of Honor. “Since Friday, the entire world admires your courage, your sangfroid, your spirit of solidarity,” he said. “This is what allowed you to with bare hands—your bare hands—subdue an armed man. This must be an example for all, and a source of inspiration.”

Brinksmanship. The two Koreas continue to bicker over the actions of both countries’ militaries at their heavily guarded border. South Korea continues to broadcast anti-North propaganda across the border over loudspeakers. The broadcasts are in retaliation for a land mine explosion earlier this month that seriously injured two South Korean soldiers. South Korea is demanding an apology, but North Korea denies planting the mine. Representatives from both countries have spent more than 24 hours in negotiations about the dispute during the past few days.

Family tragedy. Police arrested the son of the Oklahoma labor commissioner in his father’s stabbing death at a restaurant Sunday. Witnesses said Mark Costello and his 26-year-old son, Christian Costello, got into an argument that turned violent at a Braum’s in Oklahoma City. Mark Costello had been the state’s labor commissioner since 2010. He and his wife had five children. Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., expressed his condolences to the Costello family: “Mark was passionate about our nation, conservative fiscal principles, and the people of our state. Mark was a friend, and as we grieve, we will also pray for his family as they deal with this unbelievable tragedy.”

High spirits. Former President Jimmy Carter, teaching Sunday school three days after radiation treatment for cancer, offered advice on how to face life’s trials. “Every one of us in the most destitute of times has the ability to reach out in a very personal and intimate way with God Almighty,” Carter told hundreds at his Baptist church in Plains, Ga. As the class ended, Carter thanked God that so many people came to worship with him and to make him feel better. Residents of the small town have rallied to encourage the 90-year-old former president. They ordered and placed 500 election-style yard signs around town that read, “Jimmy Carter for Cancer Survivor.”

Surprise attack. A Louisiana state trooper died after a stranded motorist allegedly shot him in the head Sunday afternoon. Senior Trooper Steven Vincent stopped to help a driver whose truck had run into a ditch when the driver attacked him with a sawed-off shotgun. Several passing motorists stopped and apprehended the driver, Kevin Daigle, of Lake Charles, La. Vincent reportedly was married and had a 9-year-old son.

WORLD Radio’s Steve Coleman and The Associated Press contributed to this report.