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Guantanamo lawyers want ex-CIA official to testify
MIAMI (Reuters) - Defense lawyers want to force a former CIA official who supervised what they called torture of al Qaeda captives to testify in the war crimes tribunal for five Guantanamo prisoners accused of plotting the September 11 attacks. They argue that Jose Rodriguez, former director of the CIA's National Clandestine Service, has information pertinent to the defense allegation that the government is using security classifications to hide evidence their clients were tortured. ...
Lawyers for ex-Senator John Edwards rest case
GREENSBORO, North Carolina (Reuters) - Former Senator John Edwards' defense ended its case on Wednesday without calling three of the most anticipated witnesses to counter charges that he used political contributions to hide his pregnant mistress from voters during his 2008 presidential bid. Seven people testified for the defense this week in Edwards' federal campaign finance trial in Greensboro, North Carolina, the state he represented in the Senate from 1999 to 2005. ...
Wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. found dead at NY home
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Mary Kennedy, the estranged wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr, was found dead on Wednesday at her home in a New York City suburb, an officer at the Westchester County Medical Examiner's Office said. She was 52. Mary Kennedy had four children with Kennedy, the son of the late Senator Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of President John F. Kennedy. He is a prominent New York environmentalist. Her body was discovered by police in a building at the family's Mount Kisco property, according to a police statement, which did not identify Kennedy directly. ...
Father of Washington's Josh Powell guilty of voyeurism
SEATTLE (Reuters) - The father of Josh Powell, who killed himself and his two young sons in a fiery blast at his Washington state home in February, was found guilty on Wednesday of 14 counts of voyeurism involving images of two young sisters who were neighbors, a prosecutor said. The charges against Steve Powell stemmed from electronic photos of the girls, photographed in their bathroom next door, found in a collection of pornographic images in his bedroom during a search linked to the 2009 disappearance of his son's wife, Susan Powell, under suspicious circumstances. ...
Police receive hundreds of tips on Mississippi killings
OLIVE BRANCH, Mississippi (Reuters) - Mississippi authorities are sifting through hundreds of tips concerning two recent highway slayings that may be the work of a killer posing as a police officer. "Some are more credible than others, and we're still running them all down," Mississippi Bureau of Public Safety spokesman Warren Strain said on Wednesday. Residents have been on edge since officials said on Tuesday the shooting deaths in the rural northern part of the state of Thomas Schlender, 74, on May 8, and Lori Anne Carswell, 48, three days later, could involve a fake policeman. ...
Obama gives Medal of Honor to soldier who died 42 years ago
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Wednesday hailed a fallen Vietnam War soldier who saved his members of his platoon by awarding him the Medal of Honor 42 years after his death. The sacrifice of Specialist Leslie Sabo Jr., 22, might not have been acknowledged if someone had not found the misplaced paperwork recommending him for the medal - the nation's highest military award for valor - more than a dozen years ago. ...
Wisconsin's Walker holds recall lead despite attacks
(Reuters) - Republican Governor Scott Walker's lead widened slightly over Milwaukee Democratic Mayor Tom Barrett in the run-up to the Wisconsin recall election, according to a poll on Wednesday that showed almost all Wisconsin voters have made up their minds. The Marquette Law School poll showed Walker had a 50 to 44 percent lead over Barrett, who lost by a similar margin to Walker in the 2010 governor's race. The recall vote is June 5. Only three percent of likely voters are undecided, according to the poll conducted from May 9 to 12. ...
Oklahoma welfare applicants to face drug screening
OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) - Oklahoma will require welfare applicants to submit to screening for illegal drug use under a bill signed into law on Wednesday by Republican Governor Mary Fallin. Oklahoma became the fourth state this year to approve such a measure, joining Utah, Georgia and Tennessee. Fourteen other states had similar proposals pending, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The law takes effect on November 1 for adults who apply in Oklahoma to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program for benefits. ...
Judge blocks indefinite military detention provision
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A judge on Wednesday blocked enforcement of a recently enacted law's provision that authorizes indefinite military detention for those deemed to have "substantially supported" al Qaeda, the Taliban or "associated forces." District Judge Katherine Forrest in Manhattan ruled in favor of a group of civilian activists and journalists who said they feared being detained under a section of the law, which was signed by President Barack Obama in December 2011. "In the face of what could be indeterminate military detention, due process requires more," the judge said. ...
A "gold rush" for Maine's baby eel fishermen
PORTLAND, Maine (Reuters) - George Forni will spend most of next week holed up in his home in Sullivan, Maine, guarded by a new surveillance system and armed with a stun gun and pepper spray as he buys live baby eels from neighbors for thousands of dollars. May 31 marks the end of what has become a gold rush for a small group of Maine fisherman - the 10-week season for catching juvenile eels, known as elvers, whose price has increased nearly a hundredfold over the past decade. ...