Underwear bomber sues, says rights being violated

Underwear bomber sues, says rights being violated

FLORENCE, Colo.

A Nigerian man serving life in prison after trying to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner with a bomb in his underwear on Christmas in 2009 says his civil and religious rights are being violated.

A lawsuit filed last week in U.S. District Court in Colorado says Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is in indefinite, long-term solitary confinement at the federal Supermax penitentiary in Florence, Colo.

The lawsuit, which seeks federal court intervention, says Abdulmutallab, who is Muslim, hasn’t had regular access to an imam or been provided with a halal diet. It also says he’s been force-fed during hunger strikes.

Domestic dispute suspected in Army post gunfire

FORT STEWART, Ga.

A military base spokesman says gunshots fired on an Army post in Georgia likely resulted from a domestic argument.

Fort Stewart spokesman Kevin Larson said nobody was injured Monday afternoon after several shots were fired in a parking lot outside a classroom building on the sprawling base roughly 40 miles southwest of Savannah.

Larson said a civilian woman was detained by military police. He said it “remains to be seen” if the woman would be charged.

He said military investigators suspect the gunfire was “related to a domestic dispute.” Asked if it might be a terrorist attack, Larson said: “It is not.” He declined to release further details, including the suspect’s identity.

Catalan parliament to respond to planned takeover

BARCELONA, Spain

Catalonia’s regional parliament plans to have a debate this week on the Spanish prime minister’s plan to take direct control of the region – a session many fear could lead to a vote declaring Catalan independence.

The president of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont, asked regional lawmakers to debate options for responding to the takeover moves announced Saturday by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. Parliament’s governing body set the debate for Thursday.

Rajoy wants to trigger a section of Spain’s Constitution that would allow the central government to step in to run Catalonia. Firing all Catalan top officials and calling an early regional election are among the steps the prime minister wants to take with the constitutional authority.

Black former student arraigned in graffiti case

YPSILANTI, Mich.

A 29-year-old black former Eastern Michigan University student has been arraigned on charges stemming from anti-black graffiti found on the Ypsilanti campus last year.

The university says Eddie Curlin, who studied there from 2014 to early 2016, was arraigned Monday in Washtenaw County District Court on three counts of malicious destruction of property, four counts of identity theft and one count of using computers to commit a crime.

Graffiti was found painted on exterior building walls in September and October 2016, and a racist message was found in a men’s restroom stall last spring.

The incidents led to protests by students, and the university offered a $10,000 reward for information.

Associated Press