AM briefing: The man with the plastic gun

1 Replica 3-D printed gun

Airport screening agents confiscated a plastic handgun produced with a 3-D printer from a man's carry-on luggage last week at a Nevada airport in what a federal official said might have been the first discovery of its kind in the US. A report by Reno-Tahoe International Airport police said the white gun was a replica that couldn't fire and was loaded with five .22-calibre bullets. "Whether it's a replica or not, it's not allowed," Transportation Security Administration Agency spokeswoman Lorie Dankers said, noting that people in the airplane cabin might not be able to distinguish a real gun from a replica. The bullets were detected on a luggage scanner. The passenger was identified as Frederick Vandeman, 64, who told police he was a medical doctor who owns a 3-D printer and wanted to show his work to colleagues. He also said he had flown with the gun from Indiana and forgot it was in his bag.

2 Report shows Baltimore police targets
With startling statistics, a federal investigation of the Baltimore Police Department documents what black residents have been saying for years: They are routinely singled out, roughed up or otherwise mistreated by officers, often for no reason. The 15-month Justice Department probe was prompted by the death of Freddie Gray, the black man whose fatal neck injury in the back of a police van touched off the worst riots in Baltimore in decades. It found that one African-American man was stopped 30 times in less than four years and never charged. Of 410 people stopped at least 10 times from 2010 to 2015, 95 per cent were black. During that time, no one of any other race was stopped more than 12 times.

3 Crimea conflict flares
Russia's main domestic security agency said that one of its agents and an army soldier were killed while fending off what it described as a series of attempted terror attacks by Ukrainian "saboteurs" in Crimea, a claim Ukrainian officials denied. Russia's President Vladimir Putin condemned what he described as a "stupid criminal action" by the Ukrainian authorities and vowed to take additional steps to ensure security of Crimea. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko rejected the Russian claims as "fantasy" and "provocation". Russia annexed the Black Sea peninsula in March 2014 following a hastily called referendum. The ensuing conflict in eastern Ukraine has killed more than 9500.

4 Officers, dog and robot shot
A man suspected of shooting two Arkansas law enforcement officers, killing one and wounding the other, also shot a police robot and a police dog. Sebastian County Sheriff Bill Hollenbeck said 34-year-old Billy Monroe Jones shot and disabled the robot that was being used to confirm Jones was inside the home where he was holding officers at bay. Hollenbeck said the police dog was shot during the gunfire and ran from the scene. The dog had not been found. Killed in the shooting was Deputy Bill Cooper. Hollenbeck said Hackett Police Chief Darrell Spells had "superficial wounds".

5 Fires near Marseille
Multiple fires whipped by high winds were ravaging sites in southern France, moving from village to village and creeping towards the Mediterranean port city of Marseille. Hundreds of children and adults were evacuated from recreation centres and homes in the town of Vitrolles, about 25km north of Marseille where some homes were burned down, and in nearby Pennes-Mirabeau. The Marseille airport said it was rerouting incoming flights to make way for firefighting aircraft, while officials in the city were bracing for flames that risked lapping at its doors.