US Navy SEALs seize Libyan tanker

US Navy SEALs seize Libyan tanker

TRIPOLI, Libya

U.S. Navy SEALs seized an oil tanker off the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, stopping an attempt by a Libyan militia to sell the shipload of crude in defiance of the Libyan government. Supporters of the militia, which calls for autonomy for the eastern half of Libya, vowed Monday to try again to export oil from the ports they control.

The attempted sale of the oil — Libya’s most-crucial resource — was a stark symbol of the weakness of Libya’s central government, which has been unable to impose its authority over the North African nation since the ouster and killing of longtime strongman Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. Power in the country has fragmented among multiple, heavily armed militias, most of them regionally based.

TV pitchman gets 10 years in prison

CHICAGO

Best-selling author Kevin Trudeau, whose name became synonymous with late-night TV pitches, was sentenced to 10 years in prison Monday for bilking consumers through ubiquitous infomercials for his book, “The Weight Loss Cure ‘They’ Don’t Want You to Know About.”

As he imposed the sentence prosecutors had requested, U.S. District Judge Ronald Guzman portrayed the 50-year-old Trudeau as a habitual fraudster going back to his early adulthood. So brazen was Trudeau, the judge said, he once even used his own mother’s Social Security number in a scheme.

Arts patron, heiress ‘Bunny’ Mellon dies

RICHMOND, Va.

Rachel “Bunny” Mellon, a wealthy arts and fashion patron, friend of first lady Jacqueline Kennedy and political benefactor who funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars to former presidential candidate John Edwards that was used to hide his mistress, died Monday. She was 103.

Mellon’s family and her longtime personal attorney said she died of natural causes at her beloved 4,000-acre Oak Spring Farms in Virginia’s horse country, where she entertained royalty, stars and politicians but from which she rarely ventured.

Mellon lived a closely guarded life dominated by the arts, fashion, horses, rare books and extraordinary gardens.

Aftershocks in Chile after strong quake

SANTIAGO, Chile

Many children stayed away from school in Chile’s northern coastal region Monday as aftershocks continued to rattle the area a day after a magnitude-6.7 quake hit and prompted brief evacuations due to tsunami fears.

More than 100 aftershocks, including a tremor late Sunday of magnitude-6.2, had been recorded since the strong earthquake struck just offshore Sunday evening, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

Emails: Christie aide informed of backups

TRENTON, N.J.

Gov. Chris Christie’s campaign manager was kept informed of complaints over traffic backups near the George Washington Bridge even while lanes remained blocked, according to emails released Monday about the apparent political payback plot orchestrated by the governor’s aides.

More emails involving two-time Christie campaign manager Bill Stepien were made public in a legal filing by the state legislative panel investigating the closures. They are the latest documents to be turned over to a judge considering Stepien’s request to quash a subpoena from the panel looking into the deliberate attempts to create gridlock in the town of Fort Lee.

Associated Press