Authorities: Man killed his newborn after teen gave birth

Authorities: Man killed his newborn after teen gave birth

ELLWOOD CITY, Pa.

Authorities say a Pennsylvania man strangled a newborn child delivered by a teenage girl he had sexually assaulted on numerous occasions and hid the baby’s body in a safe.

Lawrence County authorities say 38-year-old Christopher Lee Kennedy, who has no known address, faces numerous counts. He was arrested Wednesday and It wasn’t known Thursday if he’s retained an attorney.

Authorities say the girl was 15 when she became pregnant with Kennedy’s child. She gave birth in October 2017. Police said Kennedy strangled the baby and put it in a bag, then hid the bag in a safe.

The body was found several weeks later after the teen was admitted to the hospital for serious complications related to the birth. Authorities say she initially claimed to have killed the baby, but later told them Kennedy had done it.

While it’s unclear when the teen got pregnant, police said she had several conversations with Kennedy about terminating the pregnancy and made several attempts. The girl admitted she tried to end the pregnancy by taking vitamins and herbal supplements that were known to cause pregnancy complications and premature labor.

The girl claimed that a couple months before the child was born, she and Kennedy began devising ways to end the pregnancy. They also allegedly agreed that if she miscarried, she would say that the baby was not his.

Indian island police struggle to get body of American

NEW DELHI

Indian authorities were struggling Thursday to figure out how to recover the body of an American who was killed after wading ashore on an island cut off from the modern world.

John Allen Chau was killed last week by North Sentinel islanders who apparently shot him with arrows and then buried his body on the beach, police say.

But even officials don’t travel to North Sentinel, where people live as their ancestors did thousands of years ago, and where outsiders are seen with suspicion and attacked.

“It’s a difficult proposition,” said Dependera Pathak, director-general of police on India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands, where North Sentinel is located. “We have to see what is possible, taking utmost care of the sensitivity of the group and the legal requirements.”

Police are consulting anthropologists, tribal welfare experts and scholars to figure out a way to recover the body, he said.

While visits to the island are heavily restricted, Chau paid fishermen last week to take him near North Sentinel, using a kayak to paddle to shore and bringing gifts including a football and fish.

UK’s May faces more criticism for post-Brexit ties text

LONDON

British Prime Minister Theresa May faced wide-ranging criticism from skeptical lawmakers Thursday as she sought to portray a draft agreement on a post-Brexit relationship with the European Union as a “good deal for our country.”

Addressing the House of Commons after the publication of a 26-page draft political declaration with the EU on post-Brexit relations, May said the agreement will ensure a “smooth and orderly” British departure from the European Union. Britain officially leaves the 28-nation EU - the first country to ever do so - on March 29.

“The draft text that we have agreed with the (European) Commission is a good deal for our country and for our partners in the EU,” May said.

May is due to travel to Brussels on Saturday for further Brexit meetings, including with Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, a day before a summit of the EU’s 27 other leaders at which both the political declaration on post-Brexit relations as well as the divorce agreement, which alone has legal status, are expected to be formally signed off.

The withdrawal agreement needs to be sealed soon to leave enough time for the European Parliament and the U.K. Parliament to endorse it.

IAEA calls on North Korea to re-admit nuclear inspectors

VIENNA

The head of the U.N.’s atomic watchdog has called on North Korea to allow inspectors back in to monitor its nuclear program.

Speaking at a board meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency on Thursday, Director General Yukiya Amano noted that Pyongyang had in September talked about denuclearization measures including the “permanent dismantlement of the nuclear facilities in Yongbyon” - a reactor where it produces plutonium.

Amano said there has been activity observed at Yongbyon, but “without access the agency cannot confirm the nature and purpose of these activities.”

At a news conference later Thursday, he said he couldn’t elaborate on when exactly the activity was observed.

IAEA inspectors were expelled from North Korea in 2009 but Amano said the agency continues to prepare for their possible re-admittance.

Big test coming up for tiny satellites trailing Mars lander

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.

A pair of tiny experimental satellites trailing NASA’s InSight spacecraft all the way to Mars face their biggest test yet.

Their mission: Broadcast immediate news, good or bad, of InSight’s plunge through the Martian atmosphere on Monday.

Named WALL-E and EVE after the main characters in the 2008 animated movie, the twin CubeSats will pass within a few thousand miles of Mars as the lander attempts its dicey touchdown.

If these pipsqueaks manage to relay InSight’s radio signals to ground controllers nearly 100 million miles away, we’ll know within minutes whether the spacecraft landed safely.

Woman pleads guilty to embezzling Girl Scout cookie profits

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.

A Colorado woman has pleaded guilty to charges of embezzling Girl Scout cookie funds from her daughter’s troop.

The Daily Sentinel reported Wednesday that 32-year-old Jennifer L. Hooten of Clifton pleaded guilty to felony theft Sept. 13 and was ordered to pay $1,400 in restitution as part of a deferred judgment.

The judgment means her case will be dismissed if she meets court-ordered conditions in the next two years.

Hooten was arrested after other scout leaders discovered a bank account that should have had about $2,400 in cookie profits was overdrawn.

An arrest warrant affidavit says Hooten told officers she had planned to return the money before the theft was discovered. The affidavit said she sent other troop leaders a check for $1,000 after police interviewed her.

Couple face charges over 100s of exotic pets found in home

UPPER HANOVER, Pa.

A couple accused housing at least 240 exotic animals in a Pennsylvania home is now facing hundreds of animal cruelty and neglect charges.

Montgomery County authorities say the animals found in the Upper Hanover home last month included five turtles, several alligators, numerous ferrets and dozens of snakes. Some of the animals were dead, while others were in poor health.

Thirty-nine-year-old Jason Wieder and 33-year-old Melanie Rehrig each face felony counts of aggravated cruelty to animals and several misdemeanor charges.

The couple also faces numerous charges in Lehigh County stemming from a raid the uncovered 81 living and five dead animals in a Macungie home. The animals found there included 37 birds and 31 snakes, along with rabbits, pigs and dogs.

It wasn’t known Thursday if either Wieder or Rehrig have retained attorneys.

Associated Press