IN BRIEF BILLINGS, MONT. Senator says detained student freed in China

A U.S. lawmaker says Chinese authorities have released an American college student who was arrested in their country a week ago after reportedly injuring a taxi driver who was roughing up his mother in a fare dispute. The office of Montana Republican Sen. Steve Daines says police in central China freed 25-year-old Guthrie McLean early Monday. The University of Montana senior was detained July 16 in the City of Zhengzhou on charges of intentional injury. His mother, Jennifer McLean, alleges police demanded the equivalent of $7,400 in compensation from the family and threatened to imprison her son for up to three years if they didn’t pay.