Arkansas Senate overrides veto of abortion bill

March 1, 2013 at 12:00a.m.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark.

Arkansas became the eighth state Thursday to enact a near-ban on abortions starting in the 20th week of pregnancy, and by next week it could outlaw most procedures from the 12th week onward, which would give it the most-restrictive abortion laws in the country.

The Republican-led Senate voted 19-14 along party lines to override Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe’s veto of a bill barring most abortions starting in the 20th week of pregnancy that was based on the disputed notion that a fetus can feel pain by that point. The Arkansas House voted to override the veto Wednesday. A simple majority was needed in each chamber.

That law, which took effect immediately but which likely wil be challenged in court, includes exemptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother.

hRodman tells Kim Jong Un he has ‘friend for life’

SEOUL, South Korea

Ex-NBA star Dennis Rodman hung out with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un during his improbable journey to Pyongyang, watching the Harlem Globetrotters with the leader and later drinking and dining on sushi with him.

“You have a friend for life,” Rodman told Kim before a crowd of thousands Thursday at a gymnasium where they sat side by side, chatting as they watched players from North Korea and the United States face off in mixed teams, Alex Detrick, a spokesman for the New York-based VICE media company, told The Associated Press.

Rodman arrived in Pyongyang on Monday with three members of the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team, VICE correspondent Ryan Duffy and a production crew to shoot an episode on North Korea for a new weekly HBO series.

GI pleads guilty in WikiLeaks case

FORT MEADE, Md.

Bradley Manning, the Army private arrested in the biggest leak of classified material in U.S. history, pleaded guilty Thursday to charges that could send him to prison for 20 years, saying he was trying to expose the American military’s “blood lust” and disregard for human life in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Military prosecutors said they plan to move forward with a court-martial on 12 remaining charges against him, including aiding the enemy, which carries a potential life sentence.

“I began to become depressed at the situation we found ourselves mired in year after year. In attempting counterinsurgency operations, we became obsessed with capturing and killing human targets on lists,” the 25-year-old former intelligence analyst in Baghdad told a military judge.

Chavez fighting for life, VP says

CARACAS, Venezuela

Venezuela’s vice president said Thursday that Hugo Chavez is still fighting for his life, yet a recent poll says three in five Venezuelans believe their president will return to power.

Nicolas Maduro, Chavez’s self-appointed successor, said on television that his boss “is battling there for his health, for his life, and we’re accompanying him.”

The vice president had characterized Chavez’s condition similarly Dec. 20, 2012, saying the president “is fighting a great battle ... for his life, for his health.”

Associated Press