Jamestown remains identified as those of early leaders

Jamestown remains identified as those of early leaders

NEWPORT NEWS, Va.

Jamestown archaeologists working with the Smithsonian Institution have identified four sets of remains found inside the footprint of a 1608 church as prominent early leaders of the historic Virginia colony.

Buried between 1608 and 1610, the remains were excavated in late 2013 and publicly identified Tuesday at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History after about 20 months of historical, genealogical and forensic investigation.

They include the Rev. Robert Hunt – who served as the first Anglican minister in English America – and Capt. Gabriel Archer – the explorer and council member who battled frequently with Capt. John Smith and others over the leadership of the colony.

Prison worker pleads guilty in escape of 2 killers

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y.

A prison worker who was “in over her head” with two inmates convicted of murder tearfully pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges of aiding them by smuggling hacksaw blades and other tools to the pair, who broke out and spent three weeks on the run.

Joyce Mitchell, an instructor in the tailor shop at the Clinton Correctional Facility in upstate New York, wore shackles and prison stripes as she entered the pleas in a barely audible voice.

Afterward, her lawyer, Stephen Johnston, said she realizes she made a “horrible mistake” by getting involved with Richard Matt and David Sweat, who staged an elaborate escape from the maximum-security prison June 6.

Authorities: Teen killed 8-year-old

SANTA CRUZ, Calif.

A 15-year-old boy lured an 8-year-old girl into his apartment and killed her before hiding her body in a recycling bin at the housing complex for artists where they lived, authorities said Tuesday.

Santa Cruz Police Chief Kevin Vogel told reporters that Madyson Middleton went willingly into the apartment and was probably dead even before she was reported missing Sunday evening.

Turkey and Kurds escalate fighting

ISTANBUL

Fighting between the Turkish military and Kurdish rebels escalated Tuesday amid signs of unease from NATO allies attending an emergency meeting about Turkey’s conflicts with the Islamic State group and the Kurds.

On a violent day, Turkish fighter jets pounded rebels from the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, after soldiers were fired on with heavy weaponry in Sirnak province, according to a military statement. Turkish soldiers also came under attack in two other incidents.

Convicted spy to be released

WASHINGTON

Jonathan Pollard, the former Navy intelligence analyst whose conviction of spying for Israel stoked fierce international passions, has been granted parole and will be released from prison in November after nearly 30 years.

The decision to free Pollard from his life sentence, announced Tuesday by his lawyers and then confirmed by the Justice Department, caps an extraordinary espionage case that spurred decades of legal and diplomatic wrangling. Critics have condemned the American as a traitor who betrayed his country for money and disclosed damaging secrets, while supporters have argued that he was punished excessively given that he spied for a U.S. ally.

Combined dispatches