Suicide attack on Somalia’s government failed
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — A police officer in Somalia says a suicide bomber who attempted to attack the presidential palace in Mogadishu has been shot dead.
 
Police officer Abdi Aden says the attacker jumped on the back of an African Union peacekeeping vehicle late Monday and managed to pass some security checkpoints at the palace.
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Iraq finds missing artifacts in premier’s storage
BAGHDAD (AP) — More than 600 ancient artifacts that were smuggled out of Iraq, recovered and lost again have been found misplaced among kitchen supplies in storage at the prime minister’s office, the antiquities minister said Monday.
 
The 638 items include pieces of jewelry, bronze figurines and cylindrical seals from the world’s most ancient civilizations that were looted from the Iraqi National Museum.
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Utah Guard commander takes responsibility for wildfire
HERRIMAN, Utah (AP) — The commander of the Utah Army National Guard took responsibility Monday for a fast-moving wildfire that led to the evacuation of 1,600 homes, saying Guard officials erred when they allowed live-fire training despite high wind warnings.
 
Gen. Brian Tarbet said he was “deeply sorry” about what he called a “systematic failure” at Camp Williams, about 30 miles south of Salt Lake City. The flames also destroyed three houses and damaged a fourth.
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Indiana woman faces neglect charges in two kids’ death
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The mother of two children found dead in an Indianapolis apartment was arrested on two preliminary counts of neglect Monday, a day after their bodies were found in the apartment along with three apparently malnourished siblings, police said.
 
Edyan Farah, 28, was charged Monday with two preliminary counts of neglect of a dependent resulting in death. Farah, an immigrant from Somalia, was being held Monday at the Marion County Jail on a $200,000 bond. Police said their investigation was ongoing and Farah could face additional charges.
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Man convicted of killing Phoenix woman over racial slur
PHOENIX (AP) — A man who confessed to fatally stomping a Phoenix woman over a racial slur has been convicted of murder.
 
Maricopa County prosecutors say Jose Preciliano Quintero was convicted Monday of first-degree murder, sexual abuse and kidnapping.
 
Prosecutors say Quintero cannot be sentenced to death because he was 16 at the time of the December 2008 slaying. He faces a sentence of up to life in prison.
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Abortion clinics sue state health department over new La. Law
(AP) — A group of abortion clinics sued the state health department Monday over a new law that gives Louisiana’s health secretary more discretion to shut down an abortion clinic for safety or health concerns.
 
The Center for Reproductive Rights, which filed the lawsuit for the clinics, said the Department of Health and Hospitals isn’t allowing clinics the ability to correct alleged deficiencies before revoking a clinic’s license.
 
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in New Orleans, says the law deprives the clinics of basic protections given to other licensed health care facilities in the state and encourages discriminatory enforcement against them.
 
The department’s regulations allow, for example, a clinic’s license to be revoked and the clinic to be closed immediately if it doesn’t have its patient records in watertight containers as required, the lawsuit says.
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Fire rages in Bossier, Webster parishes
 DOYLINE (AP) — A state forestry worker is back at work after being burned while bulldozing a firebreak against a woods fire that started near Doyline and spread toward Haughton.
 
Laura Pursnell-Lindsay, spokeswoman for the Department of Agriculture and Forestry, says the worker was treated and released Sunday.
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Jindal attends GOP policy summit in Ohio
(AP) — Gov. Bobby Jindal is meeting with his fellow Republican governors in Ohio.
Jindal’s office says the governor was traveling to Cincinnati on Monday to attend the
 
Republican Governor’s Association Policy Summit. He’ll return to Baton Rouge on Tuesday.
On the agenda are discussions about federal debt, state budgets and energy policy.