Rallies urge action on justice nominee

Rallies urge action on justice nominee

COLUMBUS

An effort by liberal groups to pressure Republicans to allow Senate consideration of President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee got off to a modest start Monday as small groups of demonstrators rallied outside lawmakers’ offices around the country. A bigger election-year battle ramped up as both sides brought their viewpoints to television, social media and supporters’ email inboxes.

Five days after Obama tabbed federal appeals court Judge Merrick Garland for the vacant seat, about 25 people appeared outside the Columbus office of GOP Sen. Rob Portman, who is backing Republican leaders’ insistence on awaiting the pick of whoever is elected president in November. Some carried signs saying “#DoYourJob,” a battle cry of Senate Democrats aimed at their GOP colleagues, and “#FillTheSeat.”

Airline worker flees; cocaine found

LOS ANGELES

Federal authorities are searching for a flight attendant they say bolted from a security screening at Los Angeles International Airport, leaving behind about 70 pounds of cocaine stashed in her luggage.

Transportation Security Administration officers stopped the woman at random Friday, and she remained at large Monday, said Special Agent Timothy Massino with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

South Korea reports first case of Zika

SEOUL, South Korea

South Korea has reported the country’s first case of the Zika virus, a mosquito-borne disease that has been linked to birth defects and other health issues.

The state-run Centers for Disease Control & Prevention says that a 43-year-old man was diagnosed with the virus today after suffering fever, muscle pain and rash.

A statement from the center says the man returned to South Korean on March 11 after 22 days in Brazil.

Gunmen attack EU mission in Mali

BAMAKO, Mali

Gunmen launched an attack Monday evening on the European Union military training mission’s headquarters in the Malian capital, Bamako, in what appeared to be the latest in a series of attacks on Western interests in the region.

Armed forces killed at least one man, who lay outside the hotel in jeans and a shirt in a pool of blood next to a Kalashnikov rifle. His backpack lay beside him.

Cmdr. Modibo Naman Traore, a spokesman for the Malian special forces, said three other attackers were still being sought. As of late Monday, no group had claimed responsibility.

FBI might have way to unlock iPhone

LOS ANGELES

A much-anticipated court hearing on the federal government’s effort to force Apple Inc. to unlock the iPhone used by one of the shooters in the San Bernardino terror attack was abruptly vacated Monday after the FBI revealed it may have a way to access data without the company’s help.

Federal prosecutors made the surprising announcement on the eve of today’s hearing in U.S. District Court in Riverside, California. In court papers they said the FBI has been researching methods to access the data on Syed Rizwan Farook’s encrypted phone since obtaining it Dec. 3, the day after the attack.

“An outside party” came forward over the weekend and showed the FBI a possible method, the government said in court papers requesting the hearing be postponed. Authorities need time to determine “whether it is a viable method that will not compromise data” on the phone.

Associated Press