Top Peruvian cop under cloud put on rights commission
LIMA, Peru (AP) — A Peruvian police chief facing homicide charges over a deadly clash with Indian protesters has been named to a government commission responsible for defending officials charged with human rights violations.Police Gen. Luis Muguruza, who commanded a police operation against an Indian road blockade last June that resulted in 33 deaths, was named a member of the Interior Ministry’s human rights commission, according to a decree published Saturday in the government’s official gazette.Muguruza faces charges involving the deaths of four Indians as part of charges brought by prosecutors against a total of 17 police officers.Gloria Cano, a lawyer who specializes in human rights, said Sunday that Muguruza’s new position could allow him to “lead his own defense in court.”
 
Activists call on Obama to fight Arizona immigrant law
PHOENIX (AP) — Activists called on President Obama to fight a tough new Arizona law targeting illegal immigrants, promising Sunday to march in the streets and invite arrest by refusing to comply if the measure goes into effect.U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona told about 3,500 protesters gathered at the state Capitol that the Obama administration can help defeat the law by refusing to cooperate.”We’re asking that his federal agencies, particularly Homeland Security, not cooperate with the implementation of this law. That’s defeating this. That’s the strategy.”The law requires Arizona police officers to question people about their immigration status if there is reasonable suspicion they’re in the country illegally, saying it would undoubtedly lead to racial profiling.Officers would arrest people found to be undocumented and turn them over to federal immigration officers.Opponents say the federal government can block the law by refusing to accept them.The Rev. Al Sharpton said that just as freedom riders battled segregation in the 1960s, he would organize “freedom walkers” to challenge the Arizona bill.
Rescuers fan out after twister kills 10 in rural Mississippi
YAZOO CITY, Miss. (AP) — Rescuers spread out Sunday to find anyone who might be left behind in the rural Mississippi countryside hit hard by a tornado that killed 10 people a day earlier, while others returned to demolished homes to salvage what they could and bulldoze the rubble. About 40 National Guard soldiers patrolled the devastated Yazoo City, some in Humvees and others in a Black Hawk helicopter.
 
Crews work with robot sub to try to stop oil leak in the gulf
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Crews were using a robot submarine Sunday to try to stop an oil leak nearly a mile below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, but officials said it would take at least another day before they knew whether the job was completed.The Coast Guard said the oil spill was expected to stay 30 miles off the coast for the next three days, but officials are still keeping a watchful eye because the slick has the potential to threaten shores from Louisiana to Florida.Officials said they were trying to stop the flow by using robot submarines to activate valves at the well head, but that would take 24 to 36 hours to complete. If that doesn’t work, crews are also planning to drill a relief well to cut off the flow — which could take several months.What appeared to be a manageable spill a couple of days ago after an oil rig exploded and sank off the Louisiana coast Tuesday, has now turned into a more serious environmental problem. The new leak was discovered Saturday, and as much as 1,000 barrels — or 42,000 gallons — of oil is leaking each day, Coast Guard Rear Adm. Mary Landry said.
Judge: FDA must reconsider ban on sale of baby turtles
ALEXANDRIA (AP) — A federal district judge in Alexandria says the government must reconsider its ban on selling small turtles.The president of the Independent Turtle Farmers of Louisiana, Eddie Jolly, told The Town Talk he thinks turtle farmers will win this time.Judge Dee D. Drell ruled March 30 that the Food and Drug Administration failed to adequately consider arguments made in 2006 to end the ban on selling turtles with shells less than 4 inches long.