GM to pay $575M toward ignition suits

DETROIT – General Motors will pay $575 million to settle hundreds of civil lawsuits filed against the company over faulty small-car ignition switches, including the bulk of pending wrongful death and injury cases.

The company on Thursday said it reached a deal with Texas personal injury lawyer Bob Hilliard to settle 1,385 death and injury cases that he filed over crashes caused by the switches.

Pentagon preparing shift in Syria plan

WASHINGTON – U.S. officials say the Obama administration is preparing to overhaul its failed effort to train thousands of moderate Syrian rebels to fight the Islamic State militants.

It would shift from preparing rebels for front-line combat to preparing smaller numbers of them to embed with larger Syrian Kurdish and Arab forces to coordinate U.S. airstrikes and provide other kinds of support, the officials said.

Cuba, U.S. ready to start mail service

WASHINGTON – The United States and Cuba should be able to transform their new diplomatic relationship into a deeper commercial partnership before the end of the year, with direct postal service to begin and an agreement on regularly scheduled commercial flights between the two countries, an American official said.

The Associated Press