Elizabeth surpasses Victoria’s long reign

Elizabeth surpasses Victoria’s long reign

LONDON

Queen Elizabeth II has reached a major milestone by becoming the longest-reigning monarch in Britain’s history.

She passes Queen Victoria, her great-great-grandmother, who was on the throne for 63 years and seven months.

Prime Minister David Cameron said today that millions on Britons would celebrate the queen’s “historic moment.”

Dems clinch votes for Iran nuke deal

WASHINGTON

Pressing their advantage, the White House and insistent Senate Democrats locked up the votes Tuesday to frustrate attempts by outraged Republicans to pass a legislative rebuke to the Iran nuclear accord.

Four previously undeclared Senate Democrats – Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Ron Wyden of Oregon, Gary Peters of Michigan and Maria Cantwell of Washington state – announced their support for the international agreement in a coordinated burst. That pushed supporters to a 42-vote total, one more than necessary to block a GOP disapproval resolution with a filibuster, and prevent a final vote.

Civilian casualties double in Ukraine

GENEVA

Civilian deaths and injuries in war-hit eastern Ukraine more than doubled in the three months to mid-August, mostly due to shelling by heavy weapons, the U.N. human-rights agency said Tuesday, with almost two-thirds of the deaths occurring in rebel-held areas.

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights stopped short of attributing blame for the at least 105 deaths and 308 injuries of civilians from mid-May to mid-August, saying investigators’ ability to conduct research was too limited. The figures were up from 60 civilians killed and 102 injured from February to April, it said.

Ex-bishop enters guilty plea in manslaughter case

BALTIMORE

A former Episcopal bishop pleaded guilty Tuesday to manslaughter, drunken driving and leaving the scene at which she killed a cyclist.

Under an agreement with prosecutors, the state will ask a Baltimore Circuit Court judge next month to sentence Heather Cook to 10 years in prison.

Cook, then a newly installed bishop in the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland, struck 41-year-old Tom Palermo on Dec. 27 in a bike lane near her North Baltimore home. The impact threw him on to the hood and into the windshield of her vehicle. Cook fled to her home before returning to the scene. When she was tested at a police station, her blood-alcohol content level was 0.22 percent; Maryland’s limit is 0.08 percent.

Gray’s family settles for $6.4M

BALTIMORE

The parents of Freddie Gray reached a tentative $6.4 million settlement with the city of Baltimore, nearly five months after their 25-year-old son was critically injured in police custody, sparking days of protests and rioting.

The deal announced Tuesday appeared to be among the largest settlements in police death cases in recent years and happened just two days before a judge is set to hear arguments on whether to move the trials for six officers charged in Gray’s death from Baltimore.

Gray’s spine was injured April 12 in the back of a transport van after he was arrested. Gray, who was black, died at the hospital a week later.

The city’s Board of Estimates is expected to approve the settlement today.

Associated Press