The US government is recommending a 17½-year prison term for an American security guard who admitted to trying to sell secret photos and other secret information to China’s Ministry of State Security after the guard lost $159,000 in the stock market. The Justice Department said Bryan Underwood took photographs of restricted areas at the new US consulate in Guangzhou and planned to use them to help China eavesdrop on US officials. Underwood drafted a letter expressing his desire to work for the China ministry, but was turned away when he attempted to deliver it.—AP