US, Iran cite progress

US, Iran cite progress

LAUSANNE, Switzerland

With 10 days to a nuclear deal deadline, top U.S and Iranian officials spoke Saturday of substantial headway, and Iran’s president proclaimed that agreement was within reach. But America’s top diplomat said it was up to Tehran to make the decisions needed to get there.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said “achieving a deal is possible” by a March 31 target date for a preliminary accord that is meant to lead to a final deal by the end of June that would crimp Tehran’s nuclear programs in exchange for sanctions relief.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was more circumspect, as he spoke to reporters after six days of negotiations in the Swiss city of Lausanne. The talks, made “substantial progress,” he said, but “important gaps remain.”

7 hurt in chairlift accident in Maine

CARRABASSETT VALLEY, Maine

A chairlift at a Maine ski resort stopped and then began sliding backward down the mountain Saturday, prompting frantic riders to jump off and injuring seven, officials and witnesses said.

Four people were taken to a hospital from Sugarloaf Mountain Resort, though they aren’t believed to have life-threatening injuries, resort spokesman Ethan Austin said.

Sugarloaf officials said Saturday’s accident was a “rollback” that carried riders backward a distance of about 450 feet.

Slain civil-rights activist to get degree

DETROIT

For 24 years, a stone marker has stood along U.S. 80 in Alabama near the spot where Viola Gregg Liuzzo was fatally shot by Klansmen while shuttling demonstrators after the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery voting-rights march.

Wayne State University plans to give an honorary doctor of laws degree to Liuzzo during a ceremony April 10. It will be the first posthumous honorary degree in the school’s history.

A tree or green space also will be dedicated. Liuzzo had studied nursing at Wayne State before joining the civil-rights movement.

False notice is sent to crime victims

PORTLAND, Ore.

Routine computer maintenance caused a major technical glitch that sent out thousands of false reports, saying prison inmates had been released, according to Oregon officials.

About 8,000 incorrect notices went out to victims and their families Friday evening, including an alert that wrongfully said a prisoner convicted of killing two schoolgirls in Oregon City had been discharged.

Corrections Department spokeswoman Betty Bernt says the system contractor, Appriss, has twice alerted those who received the notifications to say they were erroneous. The glitch, Bernt said, happened while the state was updating its large inmate database, which contains about 15,000 files.

Museum: Mummy was Peruvian girl

CINCINNATI

Medical scans of mummified remains in a touring exhibit at an Ohio museum show a girl who lived more than 500 years ago in Peru.

The Cincinnati Museum Center recently reported the results of a collaborative effort with Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center to learn more about the remains. The mummy is part of “Mummies of the World: The Exhibition” on display at the museum through April 26. The body was taken to the hospital in January to undergo X-rays and computer tomography.

Hannah Gill-Frerking, director of science and education for the exhibit at the museum, and Trout estimate the child was about 3 years old.

Associated Press