Zimbabwe official: US dentist not wanted for killing lion

October 13, 2015 at 12:00a.m.

HARARE, Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe is no longer pressing for the extradition of James Walter Palmer, an American dentist who killed a well-known lion called Cecil, a Cabinet minister said Monday.

Palmer can now safely return to Zimbabwe as a “tourist” because he had not broken the southern African country’s hunting laws, Environment, Water and Climate Minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri told reporters in Harare on Monday. Zimbabwe’s police and the National Prosecuting Authority had cleared Palmer of wrongdoing, she said.

Through an adviser, Palmer declined to comment.

Palmer was identified as the man who killed Cecil in a bow hunt. Cecil, a resident of Hwange National park in western Zimbabwe, was well-known to tourists and researchers for his distinctive black mane.

Iran: US reporter has been convicted

TEHRAN, Iran

Jason Rezaian, the Washington Post journalist who has been detained in Iran for more than a year on charges including espionage, has been convicted, according to Iran’s judiciary spokesman in a ruling the newspaper blasted Monday as “an outrageous injustice.”

Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejehi confirmed the verdict in comments aired on state TV late Sunday but gave no indication of what punishment the 39-year-old Iranian-American journalist could face. The ruling is eligible for appeal within 20 days, Ejehi said.

In its report, Iranian state TV called Rezaian an “American spy.” He reportedly faces up to 20 years in prison.

Gun advocates challenge zoos’ bans on possession

dallas

Visitors to the Houston Zoo can now pack a little something extra besides a camera and picnic basket.

The nearly century-old institution recently lifted its longtime firearms ban amid a broader push by gun-rights advocates who are pressuring zoos in Texas and elsewhere to do the same.

Gun-rights supporters say publicly owned zoos have misinterpreted laws and are illegally posting signs that ban firearms.

Some zoos have countered calls for policy changes by claiming they are considered amusement parks, day cares or educational institutions – venues that legally can enforce gun bans in many states.

An advocacy group in Texas is singling out zoos under a newly enacted state law allowing complaints about unlawful gun restrictions to be forwarded to the state’s attorney general for potential steep fines. Similar efforts have occurred elsewhere, including in Missouri where the St. Louis Zoo went to court to prevent an Ohio man from bringing a gun to the zoo to test its no-weapons policy.

Man charged in fatal shooting of officer

MEMPHIS, TENN.

Terence Olridge was heading to his job as a police officer when he and a neighbor were involved in an argument that escalated into a shootout in a normally quiet neighborhood in suburban Memphis, authorities said.

Shot multiple times, Olridge tried to make it back to his house to get help. He was later taken to a hospital, where he died Sunday afternoon – becoming the second Memphis police officer to be killed in a shooting in less than three months, police said.

Details about what caused the altercation between Olridge, 31, and Lorenzo Clark, 36, still are not clear.

But police said Monday that Clark has been charged with being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm in connection with Olridge’s death. He has a court appearance today. Court records do not show if Clark has a lawyer.

Associated Press