Ukraine plans troop pullout from Crimea

Ukraine plans troop pullout from Crimea

SEVASTOPOL, Crimea

Surrendering to Russia’s inexorable seizure of Crimea, Ukraine announced plans Wednesday for mass troop withdrawals from the strategic peninsula as Moscow-loyal forces seized control of Kiev’s naval headquarters here and detained its commander.

Attempting to face down the unblinking incursion, Ukraine said it would hold joint military exercises with the United States and Britain.

Hours after masked Russian-speaking troops forced their way onto Ukraine’s main naval base here, forlorn Ukrainian soldiers streamed out carrying clothing and other belongings in bags. A group of local militia and Cossacks, later joined by officers from Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, looked on.

Accused recalls 9/11 with bin Laden

NEW YORK

A cleric who gave a rousing speech urging jihad against “Jews, Christians and America” after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks testified at his terrorism trial Wednesday that he was speaking for Muslims, not for al-Qaida, even though he delivered his message while sitting beside Osama bin Laden outside his mountain hide-out in Afghanistan.

Sulaiman abu Ghaith was on the witness stand for about four hours after defense attorney Stanley Cohen surprised the courtroom by calling the defendant to testify on his own behalf. The testimony offered a close-up look into the world of al-Qaida’s top leaders in the hours and days after Sept. 11, as they huddled with bin Laden in his cave and discussed the potential fallout from the attacks.

Abu Ghaith, who is married to one of bin Laden’s daughters, said he did not know in advance of the Sept. 11 attacks, which occurred as he was in Kabul, Afghanistan, providing “spiritual training” to young men in al-Qaida-run camps, a job bin Laden had asked him to do.

Texas finds more execution drugs

HOUSTON

Texas has obtained a new batch of the drugs it uses to execute death-row inmates, allowing the state to continue carrying out death sentences once its existing supply expires at the end of the month.

But correction officials will not say where they bought the drugs, arguing that information must be kept secret to protect the safety of its new supplier. In interviews with The Associated Press, officials with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice also refused to say whether providing anonymity to its new supplier of the sedative pentobarbital was a condition of its purchase.

Same-sex marriage recognition on hold

LOUISVILLE, Ky.

A federal judge is giving Kentucky more time to officially recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states and countries, saying doing so will allow the law to become settled without causing confusion or granting rights only to have them taken away.

The ruling Wednesday comes just two days before gay couples would have been allowed to change their names on official identifications and documents and obtain the benefits of any other married couple in Kentucky.

Life sentence urged

HELENA, Mont.

Federal prosecutors recommended a life sentence for a 22-year old Montana newlywed who pleaded guilty to murder after saying she pushed her new husband off a cliff in Glacier National Park.

Her attorney, however, said the “extremely reckless but unintentional act” merits 10 years in prison.

A sentencing hearing for Jordan Graham is set for next Thursday. Graham entered her plea in December to second-degree murder in the July death of Cody Johnson, 25, her husband of eight days.

Associated Press