Hospital shooting victim was ‘disabled’

Hospital shooting victim was ‘disabled’

MASSILLON, Ohio

A woman whose husband of 45 years is accused of shooting her in the head in her hospital bed in a possible mercy killing had been in the intensive-care unit in an extremely disabled state, a prosecutor said Monday.

Barbara Wise was incapacitated before John Wise stood at her bedside and shot her Saturday with a handgun, Akron assistant city prosecutor Craig Morgan said.

John Wise entered his wife’s room at Akron General Medical Center and fired at least one round from the handgun, police said. One shot was fired, hospital officials said.

Barbara Wise, 65, was declared dead Sunday morning. She had been at the hospital in a “previously extremely disabled state,” said Morgan, who wouldn’t specify her ailments.

UK bank accused of money laundering

ALBANY, N.Y.

A British bank schemed with the Iranian government to launder $250 billion from 2001 to 2007, leaving the United States’ financial system “vulnerable to terrorists,” New York’s financial regulator charged Monday.

In a statement released Monday night, Standard Chartered Bank said it “strongly rejects” and “contests” the New York regulators’ portrayal of its transactions with Iranian banks. It said it voluntarily began reviewing the transactions since 2010 with U.S. regulators and the findings don’t match the accusations leveled at the bank Monday.

Obama signs bill to help water victims

RALEIGH, N.C.

President Barack Obama signed a bill Monday promising health benefits for Marines and families who were exposed to contaminated water at a North Carolina Marine base for decades.

“I think all Americans feel we have a moral, sacred duty toward our men and women in uniform,” Obama said in an Oval Office ceremony before signing the Honoring America’s Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act.

The bill passed Congress last week with bipartisan support. Health officials believe as many as 1 million people may have been exposed to tainted groundwater at Camp Lejeune from 1957 to 1987.

Jamaicans mark 50 years’ independence

KINGSTON, Jamaica

Shrugging off economic hardships and high crime, people across Jamaica proudly wore the national colors of gold, black and green Monday to mark the Caribbean island’s 50th anniversary of independence from Britain.

Telephone poles and streetlights were wrapped in the flag’s colors across the scenic island of fewer than 3 million inhabitants. In the capital of Kingston, revelers wore shirts emblazoned with Jamaica’s name as they thronged a “golden jubilee village” showcasing the country’s history, food and culture.

On the grounds of the national stadium, displays paid tribute to prominent islanders such as black nationalist leader Marcus Garvey and reggae icon Bob Marley. The air filled with the smell of sizzling jerk chicken cooked in oil drums.

Priest denied bail amid appeal

PHILADELPHIA

A Roman Catholic church official will remain in prison while he fights his landmark conviction for failing to protect a boy from a predator priest.

A judge Monday deemed Monsignor William Lynn’s conduct too serious to warrant bail, despite defense arguments that the felony conviction may well be overturned, because Lynn wasn’t the immediate supervisor of any accused priests.

Lynn, the longtime secretary for clergy, is serving a three- to six-year prison term.

Associated Press