Car bombings kill at least 38 in Iraq

Car bombings kill at least 38 in Iraq

BAGHDAD

Two car bombings in Iraq, including one where a suicide attacker drove a Humvee into a checkpoint manned by Iraqi troops and pro-government Shiite militiamen, killed at least 38 people Monday, authorities said.

The deadliest attack struck the outskirts of the Sunni town of Jurf al-Skhar, where the suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden Humvee into the checkpoint, killing at least 24 people and wounding 25, a police officer said. Most of those killed were members of the Shiite militia, he added. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

35 die as Syrian rebels, troops clash

DAMASCUS, SYRIA

Members of the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front and other Syrian rebel factions launched simultaneous attacks on army checkpoints, police headquarters, and the governor’s office in northwestern Syria on Monday, triggering hours-long clashes that left 35 troops and rebels dead.

The attacks all took place in the city of Idlib, activists and state media reported. The city, which is in Syrian government hands, is the local capital of Idlib province. Monday’s attacks were the most serious there since Syrian rebels took control of scores of villages and towns around it more than two years ago.

Hazing trial starts for 1 FAMU band member

ORLANDO, FLA.

Jury selection in the trial of one of the four remaining former Florida A&M University’s band members charged with felony hazing and manslaughter in the death of a drum major is set to move to a second day, while trials for three other remaining defendants have been postponed until April.

Attorneys questioned 80 prospective jurors Monday at the start of the trial of 27-year-old Dante Martin.

The trial began nearly three years after drum major Robert Champion died from being beaten. It is expected to last a week.

Earlier Monday, Judge Renee Roche delayed the trials for defendants Benjamin McNamee, Aaron Golson and Darryl Cearnel after their attorneys said they did not have the opportunity to question witnesses about hazing charges that were added to the case.

Judge sets new date for theater shooter

CENTENNIAL, Colo.

A Colorado judge has postponed the death-penalty trial for movie-theater shooter James Holmes so Holmes’ attorneys can have more time to evaluate a second report on their client’s sanity. Judge Carlos A. Samour wrote in a Monday ruling that jury selection will start Jan. 20. It had been set for Dec. 8.

Holmes, 26, a former graduate student in neuroscience, pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to charges of killing 12 people and injuring 70 in the July 20, 2012, attack.

Lawyer: Ind. suspect history was unknown

AUSTIN, TEXAS

Texas prosecutors may not have offered a suspected serial killer such a lenient prison sentence in a 2009 sexual assault case had they known about his conviction on a similar charge in Indiana five years earlier, a district attorney’s spokesman said Monday.

Darren Vann, who last week confessed killing seven women in Indiana, agreed to a five-year prison term plea deal in the 2009 sexual assault case. Vann had initially been charged with first-degree felony sexual assault, which carried a 99-year prison sentence.

Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg said Monday that she offered Vann the reduced charge deal because there was a lack of DNA evidence.

Associated Press