Peace talks renew with focus on drugs

1: Arrest in deaths of woman, 3 kids

PARSONS, Kan. — A man suspected in the deaths of a young mother and her three children is being held on $5 million bail after police captured him walking outside in frigid temperatures and wearing sodden clothes in a southeastern Kansas city.

David Cornell Bennett Jr., 22, was arrested in Independence late Tuesday, city Police Chief Harry Smith said.

Bennett, 22, has not been formally charged in the killings of 29-yearold Cami Umbarger and her children, 9-year-old Hollie Betts, 6-year-old Jaxon Betts and 4-year-old Averie Betts. The bodies of Umbarger and her children were discovered Monday night at their home in Parsons, about 35 miles from Independence.

2:

HAVANA— Colombian guerrillas and government negotiators have resumed peace talks in Havana with discussions turning to the country’s entrenched drug trade.

It’s the third of the talks’ six-item agenda. This month, the two sides reached a partial agreement on the rebels’ political participation after a peace deal is struck. And earlier this year, an accord on agrarian issues was announced.

Ivan Marquez is the nom de guerre of a high-ranking member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. Marquez says punitive measures should not fall primarily on the weak links in the narcochain — drug consumers and farmers who grow coca leaf, the base ingredient for cocaine.

He spoke Thursday in Havana, where the talks started last year.

3: Handler recovering from tiger attack

SYDNEY —

An animal handler was recovering in a hospital on Thursday after being attacked by a Bengal tiger at a zoo in Australia owned by the family of late wildlife expert Steve Irwin.

The handler, Dave Styles, was taken by helicopter to a hospital after the tiger dragged him into a pool and bit his neck and shoulders during a show Tuesday at the Australia Zoo in Queensland. The zoo said Styles was recovering and in stable condition.

Zoo officials said Styles was wearing a poncho, and the tiger may have mistaken him for its favorite biting toy.

4: China sends planes into defense zone

BEIJING — China said it sent warplanes into its newly declared maritime air defense zone Thursday, days after the U.S., South Korea and Japan all sent flights through the airspace in defiance of rules Beijing says it has imposed in the East China Sea.

China’s air force sent several fighter jets and an early warning aircraft on normal air patrols in the zone, the Xinhua agency reported, citing air force spokesman Shen Jinke.