MEXICO NABS MAN IN HIT ON JOURNALIST
CITY» Mexican authorities MEXICO have arrested a man suspected of ordering the March killing of journalist Miroslava Breach.
The National Security Commission said in a statement that the 43-yearold suspect was detained along with two others Monday morning in the town of Bacobampo, Sonora state.
It identified him as the head of a criminal gang with a strong presence of parts of Sonora and Chihuahua states.
Chihuahua Gov. Javier Corral alleged in a tweet that the man was the “intellectual author” of the murder.
Breach was a correspondent for the national newspaper La Jornada. She was shot eight times outside her garage in Chihuahua city the morning of March 23.
New law treats pets like kids in divorce cases.
CHICAGO» Judges in divorce cases can consider the well-being of pets in allocating sole or joint ownership, under an Illinois law that takes effect Jan. 1.
“It sort of starts treating your animal more like children” instead of property, said Illinois state Sen. Linda Holmes, an animal lover who sponsored the legislation. “If you’re going before a judge, they’re allowed to take the best interest of the animal into consideration.”
The law, similar to one in Alaska, applies only to pets that are marital assets, not service animals.
United apologizes to passenger who says U.S. Rep got her seat.
United Airlines has apologized and given a $500 travel voucher to a passenger who accused the airline of giving her firstclass seat to U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a Houston Democrat.
An airline spokeswoman said Monday its internal systems show the passenger, Jean-Marie Simon, canceled her Dec. 18 seat from Houston to Washington, D.C. after a weather delay.
Simon denies that she canceled the flight. She was given a seat in Economy Plus on the flight, and told the Houston Chronicle she saw Jackson Lee sitting in the seat that was assigned to her.
United says it upgraded Jackson Lee automatically and not because she was a member of Congress. The congresswoman says in a statement that she didn’t ask for anything “exceptional or out of the ordinary.”
Syrian troops capture areas near Israeli-occupied Golan.
BEIRUT» Syrian government forces have captured new areas south of the capital Damascus near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, increasing pressure on insurgents.
The government-controlled Syrian Central Military Media reported that Syrian troops and their allies captured Monday three new areas from alQaida-linked Levant Liberation Committee. It added troops are now about 500 yards from the shrine of Sheikh Abdullah that is sacred to the country’s Druze community.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Right said the fighters are now besieged in the village of Beit Jin and nearby areas after a 10-day intense offensive.
Study: Restrictions on orcas haven’t hurt tourism.
Restrictions limiting boats from getting too close to endangered southern resident killer whales have not harmed the whale-watching industry, according to a new federal study.
The study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration indicated that whalewatching tourism continues to grow even with the federal restrictions that require vessels to stay at least 200 yards from the orcas in Washington’s Puget Sound, The Seattle Times reported.
Lack of food, environmental contamination and boat noise are the primary threats to the survival of Puget Sound orcas, according to the agency. The population of southern resident whales is down to 76 — the lowest in 30 years.
Noise from boats can disturb orcas, causing them to spend less time looking for food and more time traveling, according to researchers. The restrictions enacted in 2011 were aimed at reducing the stress placed on the orcas from noise.
Peru’s president grants pardon for Fujimori.
Peru’s president announced Sunday night that he granted a medical pardon to jailed former strongman Alberto Fujimori, who was serving a 25-year sentence for human-rights abuses, corruption and the sanctioning of death squads.
President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski released a statement on Christmas Eve saying he decided to free Fujimori for “humanitarian reasons,” citing doctors who had determined the ex-leader suffers from incurable and degenerative problems.
The 79-year-old Fujimori, who governed from 1990 to 2000, is a polarizing figure in Peru. Some Peruvians laud him for defeating the Maoist Shining Path guerrilla movement, while others loathe him for human rights violations carried out under his government and some human rights groups quickly criticized the pardon.
USS Constitution ceremony marks 205th anniversary.
BOSTON» A ceremony aboard the USS Constitution will commemorate the 205th anniversary of a battle the warship fought in 1812.
The ceremony on Friday to mark the anniversary of the battle between the USS Constitution and the HMS Java will include a gun salute from the world’s oldest commissioned warship afloat and a moment of silence.
The 3½-hour battle with the British Royal Navy ship left the Constitution damaged and her captain wounded from shrapnel. But the Constitution prevailed in what’s considered a turning point for the naval fight in the War of 1812.
The Constitution earned the nickname “Old Ironsides” during the war with Britain.
Nevada man sentenced in sale of stolen Air Force ammunition.
A Nevada man who sold smoke grenades and military-issued ammunition stolen from the U.S. Air Force has been sentenced to 18 months in prison and two years’ probation.
U.S. Attorney Steven Myhre says 38-year-old Temogen Tran Noguni of Henderson was sentenced Friday in Las Vegas after pleading guilty in August to one count of unauthorized sale of U.S. property.
Two co-defendants previously pleaded guilty to criminal charges in the case, including Jonathan Owens, a 27-year-old staff sergeant at Nellis Air Force Base.
Federal prosecutors say Noguni acknowledged he bought the items from Owens in 2015.