Judge refuses to dismiss Perry case

Judge refuses to dismiss Perry case

AUSTIN, Texas

A Texas judge on Tuesday refused to dismiss a felony abuse-of-power case against former Gov. Rick Perry on constitutional grounds, ruling that criminal charges against the possible 2016 presidential candidate should stand.

District Judge Bert Richardson, who like Perry is a Republican, rejected calls from Perry’s defense team to toss the case because its client was acting within his rights as chief executive of America’s second-most populous state when he publicly threatened, then carried out, a 2013 veto of state funding for public- corruption prosecutors.

Mormon leaders: Protect gay rights

SALT LAKE CITY

The Mormon church announced a campaign Tuesday for new laws that protect gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people from discrimination while somehow also protecting people who assert their religious beliefs.

“We must find ways to show respect for others whose beliefs, values and behaviors differ from ours while never being forced to deny or abandon our own beliefs, values and behaviors in the process,” a church elder, Jeffrey R. Holland, said in announcing the church’s position.

Mormon leaders did not explain just how it would draw lines between gay rights and religious freedoms, and it’s unclear how much common ground the church will gain with this campaign.

IS hostage deadline

TOKYO

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed outrage and demanded today that Islamic State extremists release a Japanese journalist, as secret talks in Jordan sought the release of the Japanese and a Jordanian pilot also being held hostage.

The effort to free Japanese freelance journalist Kenji Goto and Jordanian Lt. Mu’ath al-Kaseasbeh gained urgency with the release of an apparent ultimatum late Tuesday from the Islamic State group.

In the message, the extremists say the two hostages will be killed within 24 hours — late tonight Japan time — unless Jordan frees Sajida al-Rishawi, an Iraqi woman sentenced to death in Jordan for her involvement in a 2005 terrorist attack on a hotel that killed 60 people.

Ga. executes man

ATLANTA

Georgia on Tuesday executed a man who killed a fellow inmate despite arguments from his lawyers that his execution was prohibited by the Constitution because he was intellectually disabled.

Warren Lee Hill was put to death by an injection of pentobarbital at the state prison in Jackson. The 54-year-old was pronounced dead at 7:55 p.m.

Gunmen storm hotel in Libya, killing 10

TRIPOLI, Libya

In the latest sign of Libya’s descent into chaos, gunmen stormed a luxury hotel used by diplomats and businessmen in the capital Tuesday, killing 10 people, including an American, a French citizen and three people from Asia.

Two attackers were killed after an hourslong standoff that included a car bomb that exploded in the parking lot of the seaside Corinthia Hotel. It was unclear if other gunmen were involved in the attack, which also killed five Libyan guards.

Associated Press