Global violence index finds fewer deaths for 3rd year

WASHINGTON (AP) — An annual terrorism index finds deaths have dropped for a third straight year.
The Institute for Economics and Peace recorded nearly 19,000 deaths last year in its annual Global Terrorism Index. That is a decrease of 27 percent from a year earlier and down 44 percent from a peak in 2014.
The Australia-based organization that released the study Wednesday cites military defeats suffered by the Islamic State and other groups such as Boko Haram and counterterrorism measures a