EU OKs phones in flight

EU OKs phones in flight

BRUSSELS, Belgium — You can use your cell phone in the skies over Europe later this year under new rules that will allow air travelers to stay in touch — and raise the cringe-inducing prospect of sitting next to a chatterbox at 30,000 feet. But don’t expect to use your phone on a U.S. flight anytime soon.

The decision Monday by the European Union makes the 27-nation bloc the first region in the world to scrap bans on the use of cell phones in the sky. The EU insists the change will not compromise safety.

Incest trial begins

LEESBURG, Va. — A daughter of a civil rights icon who served as a top lieutenant to Martin Luther King Jr. testified Monday that her father regularly molested her beginning when she was 6 years old.

The Rev. James L. Bevel pleaded not guilty to a charge of incest before jury selection began Monday. Prosecutors have said he had sex with a teenage daughter years ago, and told her the sex was part of religious training.

The daughter testified she grew up in a communal lifestyle in which she regularly saw her father having sex with women and she came to perceive her own molestation as normal.

N.J. Senate OKs leave

TRENTON, N.J. — New Jersey moved Monday to become the third state to require companies to offer six weeks of paid leave to workers wishing to care for a new child or sick relative.

The state Senate voted 21-15 to approve the bill that would offer up to six weeks paid leave. The Assembly approved the Democratic plan last month and Democratic Gov. Jon S. Corzine said he’ll sign it soon.

The New Jersey program would involve similar policies to those in California and Washington state. Federal law allows some workers to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave.

Diana death verdict

LONDON — A coroner’s jury returned the most serious verdict within its power Monday, ruling that Princess Diana and her boyfriend were unlawfully killed because their driver and pursuing paparazzi were reckless — behavior tantamount to manslaughter.

Criminal charges were unlikely, however, because the incident happened in France outside the jurisdiction of British authorities.

Diana’s sons, Princes William and Harry, issued a statement expressing support for the verdict and thanking the jurors for their long work.

‘Simpsons’ booted off TV

CARACAS, Venezuela — D’oh! A Venezuelan TV channel has yanked “The Simpsons” off the air because it may be inappropriate for children. Taking its place: “Baywatch Hawaii.”

Televen TV station spokeswoman Elba Guillen said Monday that the decision to hand over the daily 11 a.m. time slot came after the National Telecommunications Commission received complaints from viewers.

“Baywatch,” which features bikini-clad bombshells and muscle-bound hunks working as lifeguards on the Hawaiian coast, has been running in the 11 a.m. slot since Friday.

IRA dissidents on trial

BELFAST, Northern Ireland — The IRA dissidents responsible for Northern Ireland’s bloodiest terror attack should pay for their crime, a lawyer argued Monday as he launched an unprecedented civil lawsuit against five men accused of being behind the car bombing.

The blast in Omagh on Aug. 15, 1998, killed 29 people and wounded more than 330, and survivors have waited in vain for anybody to be convicted for the attack.

Monday’s lawsuit, launched after seven years of investigations and delays, seeks more than $20 million in damages from five alleged leaders of an Irish Republican Army splinter group.

9/11 victims identified

NEW YORK — The city has identified the remains of four more victims of the Sept. 11 attacks, including one man whose DNA was found beneath a service road that was initially paved over, officials said Monday.

Ronald Keith Milstein’s remains were found beneath the road that was built to carry cleanup and construction trucks in and out of the World Trade Center site after the 2001 terrorist attacks, the city medical examiner’s office said.

Also identified was Alejandro Castano, whose remains were found in the Liberty Street area, the medical examiner’s office said.

For now, authorities are not releasing the names of the two other victims whose remains were identified. Their families will decide whether to publicly announce the names.

Associated Press