WASHINGTON (AP) — For nearly three months this summer, the Obama administration carefully avoided answering questions about what happened to thousands of immigrant families caught illegally crossing the Mexican border.

Homeland Security Jeh (jay) Johnson and others would say only that they faced deportation.

It turns out that tens of thousands of those immigrants have not followed the government’s instructions to report back to immigration authorities and instead vanished into the interior of the country.

The Homeland Security Department privately acknowledged to immigration advocates that about 70 percent of families hadn’t reported as ordered. The disclosure came during a confidential meeting at its Washington headquarters for a federal working group on detention and enforcement policies.

The Associated Press obtained an audio recording of the meeting and separately interviewed participants.

MOORE, Okla. (AP) — Authorities say a man suspected of beheading a woman at a food processing plant in suburban Oklahoma City had been fired.

Moore Police Sgt. Jeremy Lewis said Friday that the suspect, who has not been charged, had been fired from Vaughan Foods.

Lewis said the man entered the plant and stabbed 54-year-old Colleen Hufford, severing her head. Lewis said the man then started to stab 43-year-old Traci Johnson.

Vaughan Foods chief operating officer and reserve county officer Mark Vaughan stopped the assault by shooting the suspect. The suspect and Johnson were taken to the hospital and Lewis said they are in stable condition.

Lewis says Moore police have asked the FBI to aid in the investigation and look into the suspect’s background.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — An unarmed man shot by a South Carolina trooper during a traffic stop repeated one question through his anguished cries as he lay wounded, waiting for an ambulance: “Why did you shoot me?”

In a video captured by a dashboard camera in the patrol car, then-Trooper Sean Groubert told Levar Jones it was because he “dove head first” back into his car. Jones said he was just reaching for his license as Groubert had instructed. Groubert’s lawyer says the officer justifiably feared for his life.

But prosecutors and Groubert’s boss disagreed. The 31-year-old officer was charged with felony assault and fired less than three weeks after the Sept. 4 traffic stop at a Columbia convenience store over a seatbelt violation.

Jones is recovering from being shot in the hip.

NEW YORK (AP) — The Fire Department of New York says three retired firefighters who worked at ground zero have died on the same day from 9/11-related illnesses.

Lt. Howard Bischoff and firefighters Robert Leaver and Daniel Heglund died Monday.

Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro says their deaths are “a painful reminder that 13 years later we continue to pay a terrible price for the department’s heroic efforts.”

The three worked at ground zero after the World Trade Center attacks. One had leukemia, one had esophageal cancer and a third had colon cancer.

The Uniformed Fire Officers Association planned a news conference Thursday.

It says first responders showed health problems soon after the attacks, with 99 percent of exposed firefighters reporting at least one new respiratory illness.

The FDNY lost 343 firefighters on 9/11.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations says America doesn’t have to be perpetually at war, but it must take on the surging Islamic State group.

Samantha Power says the U.S. needs the support of other nations as it advances “a campaign to degrade and destroy” the terrorist network.

Appearing Thursday on NBC’s “Today” show, she calls Islamic State a “monstrous group.”

Power says the Obama administration is heartened by pledges of cooperation in this effort, but says a much greater commitment is needed. She says nations must not only defeat terrorists when encountering them head-on, but also needs to keep people from becoming recruited and choke off funding sources.

Power says the horrors presented by the Islamic State militants should unite other countries, particularly in the Mideast and Europe.

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A state prison inmate says New Mexico correction officials aren’t allowing him to practice his religion and properly worship Satan behind bars.

Bernard Pritchard recently filed a lawsuit in state court alleging the chaplain and deputy warden at the Southern New Mexico Correctional Facility in Las Cruces treat his faith differently than others.

Pritchard is asking a judge to force the New Mexico Corrections Department to let him worship Satan more freely and wants $140,000 in damages.

The lawsuit doesn’t spell out specifically how Pritchard believes his rights were violated.

The New Mexico Corrections Department declined to comment on the lawsuit. Anthony Romero, deputy director of adult prisons, says officials try to accommodate all religions.

Pritchard is serving time on aggravated stalking charges.

NEW YORK (AP) — Amid continued scrutiny of problems at Rikers Island and other New York City jails, Mayor Bill de Blasio (dih BLAH’-zee-oh) said bluntly that the situation in the city’s correction department is very bad.

Speaking to reporters following remarks at the United Nations Tuesday, de Blasio reiterated that his administration inherited problems in the nation’s second-largest jail system that he’s working “to fix.”

He pointed to his naming of a reform-minded corrections commissioner, the allotment of $32.5 million in the budget and a new approach to guard training and supervision.

De Blasio was responding to comments made Monday by a federal prosecutor, who warned he may take legal action to force meaningful reforms. Last month, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara (buh-RAH’-ruh) issued a scathing review of conditions for adolescent Rikers inmates.

SEATTLE (AP) — Seattle’s elected prosecutor said Monday he’s dropping all tickets issued for the public use of marijuana through the first seven months of this year, because most of them were issued by a single police officer who disagrees with the legal pot law.

In a briefing to the City Council on Monday, City Attorney Pete Holmes says he is moving to dismiss approximately 100 tickets issued by the Seattle Police Department between Jan. 1 and July 31. His office also said it would be seeking a refund for 22 people who have already paid their $27 ticket.

Through the first six months of the year, a single officer wrote about 80 percent of the tickets, writing on one that he considered the pot law “silly.” The officer was temporarily reassigned, and the department’s Office of Professional Accountability is investigating.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A reporter for an Alaska TV station revealed on the air that she owns a medical marijuana business and was quitting her job to advocate for the drug.

After reporting on the Alaska Cannabis Club on Sunday night’s broadcast, KTVA’s Charlo Greene identified herself as the business’s owner and said she would be devoting all her energy to fighting for “freedom and fairness.” She then used an expletive to quit her job, and walked off-camera.

In a statement on KTVA’s website, news director Bert Rudman apologized for Greene’s “inappropriate language” and said she was terminated.

Alaska voters decide Nov. 4 whether to legalize recreational pot. Measure 2 would be similar to Washington and Colorado’s legalization laws.

WARNING: Graphic Language

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Apple has tightened its technological security so not even the company can pry into a password-protected iPhone or iPad in a move meant to reassure the millions of people who are increasingly storing vital pieces of their lives on the devices.

The additional safeguard is part of Apple’s latest mobile software, iOS 8, which the Cupertino, California, company released Wednesday. Apple Inc. revealed the stronger protection in a new section of its website that is prefaced with a letter from CEO Tim Cook emphasizing the company’s “fundamental” commitment to privacy and security.

The company’s inability to unlock password-protected smartphones and tablets could frustrate law enforcement officials who sometimes obtain court orders to vacuum personal data off the phones for potential evidence in criminal investigations.