Pair of U.S. citizens among 11 detained in Saudi crackdown; NEWS BRIEFING; Staff and news services; Government watchdog to study; Medicare chief’s publicity costs ; U.S. adds oil-sector companies, ships to Venezuela sanctions list ; Man kills 2, self after shooting pair of Georgia police officers ; W.Va. mother charged in false abduction report ; Weiner ordered to register as a sex offender

ISTANBUL - Saudi Arabia detained two dual U.S.-Saudi citizens this week during a roundup of activists, intellectuals and writers, including supporters of Saudi feminists and advocates for Palestinian rights, human rights groups and people briefed on the arrests said Friday.

The detentions, of at least 11 people, signaled a revival of a crackdown on dissent by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The campaign, marked by waves of arrests, had quieted somewhat in the months since the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents in Istanbul.

Many of the latest arrests occurred Thursday.

Those detained included Salah al-Haidar, a dual U.S.-Saudi citizen and son of feminist Aziza al-Yousef. Yousef, who is on trial with other Saudi women's rights advocates on charges related to their activism, was temporarily released from custody last week.

Al-Haidar has a family home in Vienna, Va., and lives with his wife and child in Saudi Arabia.

Another detainee, Badr al-Ibrahim, a doctor and writer, also holds dual U.S. and Saudi citizenship, according to people briefed on the arrests, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they feared retaliation by Saudi authorities.

A State Department spokeswoman confirmed Friday that two U.S. citizens had been arrested and that the U.S. had "already engaged the Saudi government" on the matter, but she declined to comment further, citing privacy considerations.

A Saudi government media office did not reply to an email requesting details about the detentions and the charges.

Government watchdog to study

Medicare chief's publicity costs

WASHINGTON - A government watchdog said Friday that it will review costly outside contracts to provide publicity for Medicare chief Seema Verma, whose agency oversees health insurance programs covering more than 100 million Americans.

The Health and Human Services inspector general's office said it will examine several publicity contracts, following a request by congressional Democrats. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services stopped work on the contracts this week while HHS, its parent agency, conducts its own review.

Democrats complained that Verma has steered taxpayer money to political allies at the same time her agency slashed the ad budget for the Affordable Care Act, hindering enrollment.

There was no immediate response from Verma.

U.S. adds oil-sector companies, ships to Venezuela sanctions list

WASHINGTON - The U.S. added two companies involved in shipping oil from Venezuela to Cuba, along with nearly three dozen ships, to a financial sanctions list aimed at increasing pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to step down. The firms are Ballito Bay Shipping Inc. of Liberia and ProPer Management Inc. of Greece.

Meanwhile, Vice President Mike Pence said in Houston that Maduro "must go" because of the "suffering he has brought" to the people of that country. The U.S. and other countries contend Maduro's election last year was illegitimate.

Also Friday, the State Department said Switzerland has agreed to represent U.S. interests in Venezuela after the Trump administration decided to withdraw its staff from the U.S. Embassy in Caracas.

Man kills 2, self after shooting pair of Georgia police officers

ATLANTA - A standoff that began when two Georgia police officers were shot and wounded Thursday ended with a 16-year-old boy and his pregnant mother both killed by a gunman who then killed himself, authorities said Friday.

The officers were responding to a domestic disturbance Thursday when they came under fire by the gunman, who then barricaded himself inside the house. A standoff ensued for the next 15 hours in Stockbridge, south of Atlanta.

By late Thursday, the gunman would not "provide proof of the well-being" of the teen and the woman. In the pre-dawn hours, police forced their way into the home and found three bodies.

The victims were identified as Arkeyvion White, 16, and his mother, Sandra White.

W.Va. mother charged in false abduction report

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - A woman who told police that an Egyptian man had tried to kidnap her 5-year-old daughter from a shopping mall was jailed Friday after the accusation unraveled, a police detective said.

Barboursville Police Detective Greg Lucas said Santana Renee Adams, 24, was charged with falsely reporting an emergency incident, a misdemeanor that carries up to six months in jail and a $500 fine.

A magistrate judge set bail at $20,000, Lucas said.

The story started to crumble when no witnesses could be found and mall video didn't match the woman's statement.

On Thursday, authorities announced they were dropping charges against the man, Mohamed Fathy Hussein Zayan, 54, an engineer from Alexandria, Egypt, who was in the area for work. He cried as he greeted family members upon his release from jail.

Weiner ordered to register as a sex offender

NEW YORK - Former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner has been ordered to register as a sex offender as he nears the end of a 21-month prison sentence for having illicit online contact with a 15-year-old girl.

A New York City judge Friday designated Weiner a Level 1 sex offender, meaning he's thought to have a low risk of reoffending.

Weiner must register for a minimum of 20 years. He's required to verify his address every year and visit a police station every three years to have a new picture taken.

Weiner didn't attend Friday's court hearing. He's in a halfway house after serving most of his sentence at a prison in Massachusetts.

He's due to be released May 14.

Before being sentenced, Weiner, a Democrat, said he had been a "very sick man."

Cosby settlement: Bill Cosby, 81, has agreed to settle lawsuits filed by seven women who say he defamed them when he accused them of lying about sexual misconduct allegations.

Court documents filed Friday in Springfield, Mass., show the sides have negotiated a settlement since Cosby went to prison last fall in a separate Pennsylvania sex assault case. The comedian is serving a three- to 10-year prison sentence there.

The judge overseeing the defamation case in Massachusetts must still approve the settlement. The terms are confidential.

A Cosby spokesman says an insurer authorized the settlement and that the comedian did not sign off on them.

Caption: A van with images of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and former U.S. Army soldier Chelsea Manning on its side Friday drives near the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.

WikiLeaks said Assange could be expelled from the building within "hours to days."

Alastair Grant/AP