Lawsuit over drone strikes dismissed

Lawsuit over drone strikes dismissed

WASHINGTON

A federal judge on Friday dismissed a lawsuit against Obama administration officials for the 2011 drone-strike killings of three U.S. citizens in Yemen, including an al-Qaida cleric.

U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer said the case raises serious constitutional issues and is not easy to answer, but that “on these facts and under this circuit’s precedent,” the court will grant the Obama administration’s request.

The suit was against then-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, then-CIA Director David Petraeus and two commanders in the military’s Special Operations forces.

Drug-smuggling tunnels discovered

SAN DIEGO

Two drug-smuggling tunnels with rail systems stretching hundreds of yards across the U.S.-Mexico border were discovered by law-enforcement officials, and a 73-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of helping run one operation, federal authorities said Friday.

No contraband was found in connection with the tunnels, which linked warehouses in Tijuana, Mexico and the Otay Mesa area of San Diego, according to a statement from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.

Desperate hunt is on for ‘black boxes’

PERTH, Australia

Four weeks after the Malaysia Airlines jet vanished, two ships deployed sound locators Friday in the southern Indian Ocean in a desperate attempt to find the plane’s flight recorders before their signal beacons fall silent.

Officials leading the multinational search for Flight 370 said there was no specific information that led to the underwater devices being used for the first time, but that they were brought into the effort because there was nothing to lose.

The air and sea search has not turned up any wreckage from the Boeing 777 that could lead searchers to the plane and perhaps its flight data and cockpit voice recorders, or “black boxes.”

6 suspended amid rape allegations at Missouri school

KANSAS CITY, Mo.

Months after vowing to boost security at a Kansas City school where a student says she was dragged to a room and raped, district officials have suspended six employees amid new allegations from a 14-year-old girl who alleges a boy repeatedly raped her at school.

The girl in the latest case, who the police report describes as autistic, told authorities the 14-year-old boy raped her “on numerous occasions” over the last month at Southwest Early College Campus while a 13-year-old girl stood in the hall as a lookout. The boy and the alleged lookout were charged Wednesday in juvenile court with one count each of rape and sodomy and ordered to remain detained Friday.

Black military women criticize hair regulations

WASHINGTON

New Army regulations dealing with hair are coming under criticism by some black military women, who say changes are racially biased.

The Army earlier this week issued new appearance standards that ban most twists, dreadlocks and large cornrows. Those are all styles used predominantly by African-American women with natural hairstyles.

More than 11,000 people have signed a White House petition asking President Barack Obama to have the military review the regulations to allow for “neat and maintained natural hairstyles.”

Associated Press