Attorney general nominee heads for vote after 5 months

Attorney general nominee heads for vote after 5 months

WASHINGTON

President Barack Obama’s long-stalled nominee for attorney general, federal prosecutor Loretta Lynch, is on her way to a confirmation vote after senators extricated themselves Tuesday from a partisan dispute over abortion that had stood in her way.

An agreement announced by Senate leaders allowed both Republicans and Democrats to save face on a once-uncontroversial bill to help sex-trafficking victims that had turned into a litmus test on abortion.

Although that issue was not connected to Lynch, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell had been holding off her nomination vote until the trafficking issue was resolved.

Campaign in Yemen enters new phase

NAJRAN, Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia on Tuesday declared an end to its nearly monthlong “Decisive Storm” air campaign against Houthi rebels in Yemen, and announced the start of a more limited military campaign aimed at preventing the rebels from operating.

Speaking at a news conference in Riyadh, a spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition, Brig. Gen. Ahmed Asiri, said the campaign of heavy airstrikes would be scaled down, but did not confirm whether they would stop altogether.

“There might be less frequency, and the scope of the actions might be less, but there will be military action,” Asiri said.

Standoff at Ferguson home ends peacefully

FERGUSON, Mo.

A standoff involving Ferguson law-enforcement officers and a man believed to have shot his brother in the head ended peacefully after hours of negotiations.

Ferguson police spokesman Jeff Small said the suspect was taken into custody about 4:15 p.m. Tuesday.

The incident began nearly four hours earlier when police received a report of a shooting involving two brothers. Small said he hasn’t heard of any weapons being pointed at officers during the standoff.

He said he doesn’t know the condition of the victim, who was responsive when he was taken away by ambulance.

The St. Louis suburb has been at the center of attention since August, when 18-year-old Michael Brown, who was black, was fatally shot by a white Ferguson police officer.

Court sentences ousted Egyptian president to 20 years

CAIRO

Egypt’s ousted Islamist president, Mohammed Morsi, was convicted of using force against protesters and sentenced to 20 years in prison Tuesday, the first verdict against him since he was removed by the military nearly two years ago.

The case was the latest in a series of mass trials on a range of charges against Morsi and other members of his Muslim Brotherhood, which Egypt’s government has vowed to crush, branding it a terrorist organization. Amnesty International denounced Morsi’s trial as a “sham” — as rights groups have called many of the trials over the past two years.

The Brotherhood went from decades as an underground organization to vault to power after Egypt’s 2011 popular uprising toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak. The Brotherhood was the biggest winner in subsequent parliament elections, and Morsi — running as its candidate — became Egypt’s first freely elected president in 2012.

Associated Press