Texas executes man, 67, for killing four

Texas executes man, 67, for killing four

HUNTSVILLE, Texas

A 67-year-old man convicted of killing four men more than three decades ago at a North Texas ranch was executed Wednesday.

Lester Bower is the oldest prisoner put to death in Texas since the state resumed capital punishment in 1982.

He received a lethal injection Wednesday evening for fatally shooting the four in October 1983 at an airplane hangar on the ranch about 60 miles north of Dallas.

He’s the eighth Texas inmate put to death this year.

Death toll rises in China ship capsize

JIANLI, China

The death toll of a river cruise capsizing in the Yangtze River jumped by 39 fatalities to a total of 65 this morning, the most significant increase since the Eastern Star overturned in a heavy storm with 456 people on board more than two days earlier.

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said rescuers cut into the ship’s overturned hull early today as it jutted out of the grey river water but found only drowned people inside. Rescuers said they planned to cut into at least another part of the hull in hopes of finding survivors.

NC OKs 72-hour wait for abortions

RALEIGH, N.C.

North Carolina lawmakers passed a bill Wednesday that would make the state one of several with 72-hour waiting periods for an abortion, sending the bill to the Republican governor, who plans to sign it.

Hours after the bill passed, Gov. Pat McCrory said he was pleased with progress made on the bill in recent days and planned to sign it. The House and Senate chambers in the GOP-controlled Legislature approved the measure by margins above the threshold for overcoming a veto.

Bill supporters have said that increasing the state’s waiting period from the current 24 hours will give pregnant women more time to collect information about a difficult decision. The bill’s House sponsors also said they hope the measure would lead to fewer abortions.

3 face charges after graduation cheering

SENATOBIA, Miss.

Can cheering be criminal?

One Mississippi school superintendent says yes, and he swore out charges against three people for doing it.

The three face misdemeanor public-disturbance charges after they disobeyed instructions and cheered for individual graduates at Senatobia High School’s graduation May 21. Officials had instructed attendees to hold applause until all had graduated.

The three were escorted out of the arena at Northwest Mississippi Community College, where the event took place. College Police Chief Zabe Davis says Senatobia school Superintendent Jay Foster returned later and swore out misdemeanor charges against the three. The charges carry a fine of up to $500 and a sentence of up to six months in jail.

Group: Afghan militia is dangerous

KABUL, Afghanistan

Afghanistan is increasingly relying on a “cheap but dangerous” national militia of some 30,000 fighters, some of whom have committed serious abuses in the communities they are supposed to protect, an international research group said Thursday.

The International Crisis Group said members of the militia force, known as the Afghan Local Police, have killed civilians and committed fraud, theft, rape, kidnapping, drugs trafficking and extortion.

Associated Press