A mother charged in the slayings of two of her children whose bodies were found in the deep freezer at their Detroit home will undergo psychiatric exams, a judge said at a probable cause hearing today.
	Mitchelle Blair, 35, was also arraigned on two counts each of felony murder, premeditated murder and torture.
	Court officers conducting a March 24 eviction at Blair's eastside apartment discovered the frozen corpses of 13-year-old Stoni Ann Blair and 9-year-old Stephen Gage Berry beneath plastic in the freezer.
	State officials will conduct forensic tests to establish whether Blair is competent to stand trial. Her attorney also requested an independent psychiatric evaluation to discover if she is competent to stand trial and if she was competent to waive her Miranda rights before investigators say she confessed.
	Judge Kenneth King granted the independent evaluation which Wayne County would fund but said that it seemed "wasteful" because "there is a good chance a forensic examination .

Mom of kids found in freezer arraigned on murder charges

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Prominent Democratic Senator Bob Menendez has pleaded not guilty to charges that he accepted nearly USD 1 million in gifts and campaign contributions from a long-time friend in exchange for a stream of political favours.
	An attorney for Menendez entered the plea yesterday before a federal judge in Newark, one day after he promised to be vindicated and declared that he's "not going anywhere."
	The criminal charges brought cloud to the political future of the top Democrat and former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who has played a leading role in Congress on matters involving Iran's nuclear program and US efforts to improve ties with Cuba.
	The indictment alleges Menendez used the power of his Senate seat to benefit Salomon Melgen, a wealthy Florida eye doctor who prosecutors say provided the senator with luxury vacations, airline travel, golf trips and tens of thousands of dollars in contributions to a legal defense fund.
	Melgen also entered a not guilty plea, and 

Top Democratic senator pleads not guilty to corruption

A jury in Georgia has awarded USD 150 million to the family of a 4-year-old boy killed when a Jeep Grand Cherokee exploded into flames after being rear-ended three years ago.
	The jury said Chrysler, the maker of Jeeps, must pay nearly the full amount.
	Jurors in Decatur County yesterday ruled that Chrysler acted with reckless disregard for human life in selling the family of Remington "Remi" Walden a 1999 Jeep with a gas tank mounted behind the rear axle.
	Walden, of Bainbridge, Georgia, was killed when the Jeep driven by his aunt was hit from behind by a pickup truck in March 2012. The fuel tank leaked, engulfing the Jeep in flames and killing the boy.
	The verdict comes nearly two years after Chrysler compromised with a federal safety agency and agreed to a scaled-down recall of some older-model Jeeps with the rear-mounted tanks.
	The tanks have little structure to protect them if struck from behind, making them susceptible to punctures and fires.
	Federal documents show that at ...

Jury orders Chrysler to pay USD 150M in Jeep fire death

Members of a UN police unit in the West African country of Mali used "unauthorised and excessive force" in fatally shooting three civilians and wounding four others during a protest in January, the UN has announced.
	It was one of the most serious incidents of violence by peacekeepers in the past decade.
	Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon "expresses his deepest apologies" to the victims and their families and is committed to ensuring justice for them, the statement said.
	The UN statement yesterday did not mention the nationality of the peacekeepers, who are from Rwanda, a major UN troop contributor. They will be repatriated in the next few days, UN peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous told reporters.
	It will be up to Rwanda to take action to hold them accountable.
	Up to four peacekeepers were implicated in the shooting, and families of the victims will receive compensation, said Radhia Achouri, a spokesman for the UN mission in Mali, known as MINUSMA.
	The findings are based on an ...

UN: Police used 'excessive force' in killing Mali protesters

An Alabama inmate who spent nearly 30 years on death row will go free today after prosecutors told a judge there is not enough evidence to link him to the 1985 murders he was convicted of committing.
	Judge Laura Petro yesterday dismissed the case against Anthony Ray Hinton. The district attorney's office in a Wednesday court filing said that forensic experts couldn't determine if six crime scene bullets which were the crux of the evidence against Hinton came from a gun investigators took from his home.
	Hinton, now 58, was convicted of two 1985 murders that occurred during separate robberies of fast-food restaurants. Prosecutors linked Hinton to the killings through a .38-calibre revolver found at his house.
	The US Supreme Court last year sent Hinton's case back for a potential new trial, which prompted a re-examination of the evidence.
	"We've been hoping for this. We've believed that this should have happened," said Bryan Stevenson, Hinton's attorney and director of the ...

Alabama death row inmate to be freed after nearly 30 years

Al-Qaeda militants traveling in convoys flying black banners captured a major port city in southern Yemen today, seizing government buildings and freeing inmates from a prison, including a top Saudi-born leader, security officials said.
	The fall of Mukalla the capital of Yemen's largest province, Hadramawt highlighted how al-Qaida is expanding its foothold in Yemen, taking advantage of the turmoil as a Saudi-led coalition backing the country's beleaguered president tries to fend off a takeover by Shiite rebels.
	Mukalla's fall came as the rebels, known as Houthis, made dramatic advances in one of the main strongholds of the president's loyalists, the southern city of Aden. The rebels broke into the center of Aden and briefly captured a presidential palace in the city.
	The rebels withdrew from the palace after raising the Yemeni flag, but the move showed their continued strength despite more than a week of heavy airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition. If the Houthis succeed in ...

Al-Qaeda in Yemen captures a southern city, frees inmates

The seaside California estate dubbed the Western White House when it was owned by Richard Nixon is for sale at USD 75 million.
	The Orange County Register reported Wednesday that the San Clemente property is being sold by retired Allergan CEO Gavin Herbert, who has owned it for 35 years.
	Nixon bought the 5½-acre spread on a secluded coastal bluff in 1969 and called it La Casa Pacifica.
	The president said he liked watching surfers during walks on the beach.
	When Nixon resigned from office, he returned to the retreat to write his memoirs. He moved to New York in 1980 and sold it to Herbert.
	The newspaper reports the estate, set behind private walls, has some 15,000 square feet among all the structures, including a 9,000-square-foot main residence.

Nixon's Western White House for sale at $75 million

Veteran comedy writer Tom Koch, who when he wasn't creating sketches for the legendary comedy team Bob and Ray invented a nonsensical, nearly impossible to play sport called squamish, has died at age 89.
	The New York Times reports Koch died March 22 at his Laguna Woods, California, home. His son John says the cause was pulmonary failure.
	Beginning in 1955 Koch created thousands of sketches for Bob and Ray's radio show.
	He also wrote for such television programs as "The Lucy Show" and "My Mother the Car."
	He invented squamish in 1965 for a Mad Magazine story lampooning college sports. It contained rules so complicated and silly he believed no one could really play.
	It developed a cult following, however, with fans claiming to have played various versions.

Comedy writer Tom Koch, who invented squamish, dead at 89

A local politician in Britain says his son is one of nine Britons arrested in Turkey while allegedly trying to get to Syria.
	Shakil Ahmed, a Labour Party councilor in Rochdale, northwest England, said Thursday he had believed his university student son was in Birmingham, England. Ahmed said he was "shocked, worried and extremely upset" to learn he was in Turkey.
	British police say the group detained in Turkey on Wednesday includes three men, two women and four children aged 1 to 11. They are being deported to Britain.
	The nine are among a spate of recent cases of UK citizens trying to reach areas of Syria controlled by the Islamic State group. Several have been apprehended, but three teenage schoolgirls are believed to have reached Syria in February.

UK politician: Son among Syria-bound Britons held in Turkey

A US citizen who authorities say traveled from Canada to Pakistan to train with al-Qaida in order to carry out jihad has been arrested and charged with conspiring to kill American soldiers, according to court papers unsealed today.
	A bearded Muhanad Mahmoud Al Farekh, wearing light blue prison attire, said nothing and entered no plea during a brief court appearance Thursday afternoon before a federal judge in Brooklyn. He was ordered held without bail.
	His attorney did not comment.
	"Today's arrest demonstrates that there is no escape from the long reach of our law for American citizens who seek to do harm to our country on behalf of violent terrorists," Brooklyn US Attorney Loretta Lynch said in a statement.
	Al Farekh, who was born in Texas, and two other co-conspirators were students at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada, in 2007 when authorities say they started watching al-Qaida propaganda and hatching a plan to become martyrs abroad, an FBI agent wrote in a January 

US citizen brought from Pakistan to NYC faces terror charges

President Barack Obama heralded a framework nuclear understanding with Iran as an "historic" agreement that could pave the way for a final deal that would leave the US, its allies and the world safer.
	Speaking from the White House today, Obama said the agreement "is a good deal, a deal that meets our core objectives."
	He said verification mechanisms built into the framework agreed to in Switzerland hours earlier would ensure that "if Iran cheats, the world with know it."
	Obama has invested significant political capital in the nuclear negotiations. The talks have strained the US relationship with Israel, which sees Tehran as an existential threat, and deepened tensions with Congress.
	One of Obama's toughest challenges will be convincing lawmakers to hold off on legislation that would authorize new sanctions on Iran.
	He said his administration would fully brief Congress on the diplomatic efforts, which he called "our best option by far.

Obama hails Iran framework as 'historic' understanding

Iraqi officials say two separate bombings have targeted public places in the capital of Baghdad, killing 11 people.
	Police officials say a car bomb exploded near a bus stop and an out-door market in Baghdad's Bab al-Muadam area on Thursday evening, killing eight people. Two of the dead were women, and the explosion also wounded 18 people.
	Earlier, a bomb blast near a small restaurant killed three people and wounded eight in the capitals' northern Shiite suburbs of Husseiniyah.
	Medics in nearby hospitals confirmed the casualties. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorised to talk to the media.
	Iraq sees near-daily bombings and other attacks that are often claimed by the Islamic State group, which seized much of northern and western Iraq last year.

Bombings in Iraqi capital kill 11 people

The US, Iran and five other world powers today announced an understanding outlining limits on Iran's nuclear programme so it cannot lead to atomic weapons, directing negotiators toward achieving a comprehensive agreement within three months.
	Reading out a joint statement, European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said a "decisive step" after more than a decade of negotiations had been achieved.
	Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif followed with the same statement in Farsi.
	US Secretary of State John Kerry and the top diplomats of Britain, France and Germany also briefly took the stage behind them.
	In a tweet, Kerry said there was an agreement "to resolve major issues on nuclear program. Back to work soon on a final deal."
	Mogherini said the seven nations would now start writing the text of a final accord. She cited several agreed-upon restrictions on Iran's enrichment of material that can be used either for energy production or in nuclear warheads. She said .

World powers, Iran reach framework for nuke deal by June 30

Security op over, 4 attackers killed, death toll may be

Iran and six world powers have agreed on the outlines of an understanding to limit Iran's nuclear programs, negotiators indicated today, as both sides prepared for announcements.
	Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted: "Found solutions. Ready to start drafting immediately."
	European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini tweeted that she would meet the press with Zarif after a final meeting of the seven nations in the nuclear talks. She wrote: "Good news."
	The officials spoke following weeklong talks that have been twice extended past the March 31 deadline in an effort to formulate both a general statement of what has been accomplished and documents describing what needs to be done to meet a June 30 deadline for a final accord.
	Mogherini and Zarif were to read out the same statement in English and Farsi. Zarif and US Secretary of State John Kerry were then expected to brief reporters separately.
	The US and five other countries hope to curb Iran's nuclear ...

Iran nuclear talks: 'Good news' coming

Prominent Bahraini rights activist Nabeel Rajab was taken again into police custody today and could face new charges as he appeals an earlier conviction, his lawyer and family members said.
	Rajab is president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights and is one of the best-known activists in the tiny Gulf island nation.
	The Western-allied country, which is home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet, has faced more than four years of unrest following widespread street protests led by the Shiite majority seeking greater political rights from the Sunni monarchy.
	Defense lawyer Jalila al-Sayed confirmed Rajab's arrest but said she is not aware of what charges, if any, he will face.
	The Ministry of Interior said on its official Twitter account that Rajab was arrested after publishing information that would harm the civil order and denigrated an official institution. It said legal proceedings were under way.
	Rajab had been free on bail as he appeals a six-month jail sentence issue in January for ..

Family, lawyer say prominent Bahraini activist arrested

Syrian rebels and fighters from the al-Qaida-affiliated Nusra Front have captured the only functioning border crossing with Jordan and three nearby military posts, prompting intense government bombing raids of the area, activists said today.
	The capture of the Nasib crossing a crucial gateway for the Syrian government is the latest in a series of setbacks for President Bashar Assad's forces in the past week. Fighters led by the Nusra Front seized the government-held city of Idlib in northwestern Syria and a major town, Busra Sham, in the south.
	The Jordanian government closed the Nasib crossing on Tuesday night for security reasons as Syrian rebels clashed with Assad's forces on the other side. The rebels seized the crossing within 24 hours.
	Today, a plume of thick, black smoke was seen billowing from the Syrian side of the border with Jordan, as Syrian warplanes struck the area. An Associated Press cameraman said dozens of trucks were stranded on the Jordanian side and customs ...

Syrian rebels capture main border crossing with Jordan

The co-pilot of Germanwings Flight 9525 appears to have researched suicide methods and cockpit door security in the days before he flew the plane into the French Alps, killing 150 people, German prosecutors said today.
	Duesseldorf prosecutors said investigators found a tablet computer at co-pilot Andreas Lubitz's apartment in Duesseldorf and were able to reconstruct his computer searches from March 16 to March 23.
	Based on information from the cockpit voice recorder, investigators believe the 27-year-old Lubitz locked his captain out of the A320's cockpit on March 24 and deliberately crashed the plane, killing everyone on board.
	Prosecutors' spokesman Ralf Herrenbrueck said in a statement that Lubitz's search terms included medical treatment and suicide methods. On at least one day, the co-pilot looked at search terms involving cockpit doors and their security methods.
	"(He) concerned himself on one hand with medical treatment methods, on the other hand with types and ways of ...

Prosecutors: Lubitz probed suicide methods, cockpit security

Al-Shabab gunmen attacked a college in northeast Kenya early today, targeting Christians and killing at least 15 people and wounding 60 others, according to witnesses even as the president said it is now a hostage situation.
	Even as security forces cornered the gunmen in a dormitory at Garissa University College where they could be holding hostages, survivors described to The Associated Press a harrowing scene, where people were mercilessly gunned down and bullets whistled through the air as they ran for their lives.
	Collins Wetangula, the vice chairman of the student union, said he was preparing to take a shower when he heard gunshots coming from Tana dorm, which hosts both men and women, 150 meters (yards) away. The campus has six dorms and at least 887 students, he said.
	He said that when he heard the gunshots he locked himself and three roommates in their room.
	"All I could hear were footsteps and gunshots nobody was screaming because they thought this would lead the gunmen to 

At least 15 dead as gunmen attack university in Kenya

Germanwings said today it was unaware that the co-pilot of its plane which crashed in the French Alps last week had suffered from depression during his pilot training.
	Investigators believe co-pilot Andreas Lubitz locked his captain out of the Airbus A320's cockpit and intentionally crashed Flight 9525 from Barcelona to Duesseldorf into a French mountainside on March 24. All 150 people on board the plane were killed.
	German airline Lufthansa confirmed yesterday that it knew six years ago that Lubitz had suffered from an episode of "severe depression" before he finished his flight training.
	"We didn't know this," said Vanessa Torres, a spokeswoman for Lufthansa subsidiary Germanwings, which hired Lubitz in September 2013.
	She declined to explain the discrepancy, citing the ongoing investigation. Torres noted that Lufthansa has said Lubitz held a "fully valid class 1 medical certificate" on the day of the crash.
	The news came as Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt and the German .

Germanwings was unaware of co-pilot's 'depressive episode'

Albania's Parliament has lifted the immunity from prosecution of a Christian Democrat lawmaker convicted of murder in Belgium.
	The parliament voted overwhelmingly today to lift immunity for Mark Frroku following an international arrest warrant issued for him by Belgian prosecutors.
	A Brussels court sentenced Frroku and three other Albanians in absentia to 10-year prison terms in 2010. Frroku has appealed and a fresh trial is due to start in October.
	The vote means Frroku could now be extradited to Belgium. Prosecutors believe that Aleksander Kurti's murder in 1999 was the result of clashes between gangs involved in prostitution in the Belgian capital.

AP

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