Judge releases jail video of Anthony

October 1, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

ORLANDO, Fla.

A Florida judge released a grainy jailhouse video of Casey Anthony being told that the remains of her 2-year-old daughter had been found in 2008.

An Orlando television station argued in court for the release of the 15-minute video on grounds that it was a public record. The footage had been under judicial seal since June 2009.

Judge Belvin Perry ruled Friday that protecting Anthony’s right to a fair trial was no longer an issue after her July acquittal on charges that she killed her toddler Caylee Anthony in the summer of 2008.

Navy weighs longer sub deployments

GROTON, Conn.

The Navy is considering lengthening the standard deployment of attack submarines beyond six months as it faces rising demands with a fleet that has been shrinking since the end of the Cold War, the commander of American submarine forces told The Associated Press in an interview.

Already, attack submarines are at times asked to stay out longer than six months — extensions that can be trying for sailors who serve in tightly confined spaces with limited outside communication as members of the “silent service.”

Sources: Christie to decide on run

TRENTON, N.J.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is reconsidering his decision to stay out of the race for the White House in 2012 and is expected to make a decision soon, according to several people close to the governor with knowledge of his thinking.

Christie has long said he won’t run in 2012. But those close to the first-term governor, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the issue, say he is rethinking his hard stance.

Hispanics vanish from Ala. schools

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.

Hispanic students have started vanishing from Alabama public schools in the wake of a court ruling that upheld the state’s tough new law cracking down on illegal immigration. Education officials say scores of immigrant families have withdrawn their children from classes or kept them home this week, afraid that sending the kids to school would draw attention from authorities.

UN seeks designs for slave memorial

UNITED NATIONS

The United Nations launched an international design competition Friday for a permanent memorial to victims of slavery and the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

The memorial will be constructed at U.N. headquarters in New York, and the competition is open to all artists. The theme of the project is “Acknowledging the Tragedy, Considering the Legacy; Lest We Forget,” and designs must be submitted by Dec. 19.

Group calls on Libya to stop abuse

TRIPOLI, Libya

Human Rights Watch called on Libya’s new rulers to stop armed groups from rounding up suspected Moammar Gadhafi supporters and abusing them, saying Friday that some detainees reporting beatings and electric shocks had the scars to prove it.

The treatment of prisoners has become a litmus test for the transitional government as it tries to rein in young men who fought in the civil war that ousted Gadhafi and now refuse to lay down their weapons.

The New York-based rights group said it had visited 20 detention facilities in Tripoli and interviewed 53 inmates, including 37 Libyans and 16 sub-Saharan Africans. Five were considered “high value” because of their positions in Gadhafi’s government, the report said, without elaborating.

Associated Press