Firing squad allowed in absence of drugs

Firing squad allowed in absence of drugs

SALT LAKE CITY

Utah became the only state to allow firing squads for executions when Gov. Gary Herbert signed a law Monday approving the method for use when no lethal-injection drugs are available, even though he has called it “a little bit gruesome.”

The Republican governor has said Utah is a capital- punishment state and needs a backup execution method in case a shortage of the drugs persists.

Israel’s Netanyahu apologizes to Arabs

JERUSALEM

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologized to Israel’s Arab citizens Monday for remarks he made during last week’s parliament election that offended members of the community.

The move appeared to be an attempt to heal rifts and mute criticism at home and in the United States. Netanyahu drew accusations of racism in Israel, especially from its Arab minority, and a White House rebuke when, just a few hours before polling stations were to close across the country, he warned that Arab citizens were voting “in droves.”

But President Barack Obama’s chief of staff, Denis McDonough, rejected Netanyahu’s attempt to distance himself from his comments, telling an Israel advocacy group Monday that the U.S. can’t just overlook what Netanyahu said on the eve of his re-election.

3 die in collapse of scaffolding

RALEIGH, N.C.

Workers were dismantling a scaffold at a high-rise construction project Monday when a piece of it fell to the ground in downtown Raleigh, killing three men and sending another to a hospital.

No bond for Durst

NEW ORLEANS

A magistrate on Monday ordered millionaire Robert Durst held without bond on weapons charges in Louisiana and said the man accused of killing his friend 15 years ago in California was both a flight risk and a danger to others.

Durst, 71, was seated beside his lawyers, his hands shackled to his sides in padded cuffs. He has been in a prison’s mental-health unit for nearly a week. Jail officials have called him a suicide risk.

Magistrate Harry Cantrell set a preliminary hearing in the weapons case for April 2.

House urges sending arms to Ukraine

WASHINGTON

The House on Monday overwhelmingly approved a resolution urging President Barack Obama to send lethal weapons to Ukraine to protect its sovereignty in its fight against Russia-backed rebels.

The resolution was approved 348 to 48.

Associated Press