Prince William, Middleton mail invitations for the royal wedding
LONDON (AP) — Keep an eye on the mailbox — Britain’s Prince William and bride-to-be Kate Middleton have sent out invites to their highly anticipated royal wedding to around 1,900 guests.
Military personnel and charity workers will mingle with European royalty, diplomats and the family and friends of the couple at the Westminster Abbey ceremony on April 29, St. James’s Palace said Sunday.
Warship shadowing American yacht hijacked by Somali pirates
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — A warship is shadowing a yacht with four Americans on board that was hijacked by Somali pirates, a pirate said Sunday, as the vessel was reported to be moving closer to the Somali coast.
The yacht Quest was hijacked Friday off the coast of Oman, but is now in the waters between Yemen and northern Somalia, two pirates and a Somali government official told The Associated Press.
One pirate, Hassan, said a warship with a helicopter on its deck is near the Quest.
Orphanage blaze kills 10 disabled children in western Estonia
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A fire raced through an orphanage for disabled children in western Estonia on Sunday, killing 10 of them, a rescue service spokesman said.
There were 37 children and nine adults inside the wooden building when the fire started in the coastal town of Haapsalu, said Viktor Saaremets, a spokesperson for the Western Estonia Rescue Services Center. Most of the victims were wheelchair-bound and were unable to escape the fire, he said.
Tennessee mom suspended from job for taking Marine son’s call
WOODBURY, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee woman was suspended from her job for three days when she answered her cell phone on the job — to take a call from her son, a Marine stationed in Afghanistan.
The business, Crane Interiors, has since apologized and says Teresa Danford will be paid for the work she missed.
She says managers had threatened to fire her if she violated the policy again.
Texas poised to pass bill allowing guns to be carried on campus
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas is preparing to give college students and professors the right to carry guns on campus, adding momentum to a national campaign to open this part of society to firearms.
More than half the members of the Texas House have signed on as coauthors of a measure directing universities to allow concealed handguns. The Senate passed a similar bill in 2009 and is expected to do so again. Republican Gov. Rick Perry, who sometimes packs a pistol when he jogs, has said he’s in favor of the idea.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A fifth person charged in a bribery scheme involving New Orleans city officials has pleaded guilty after being charged with conspiracy to commit bribery.
A bill of information charging Dwaine Hodges was unsealed on Friday, according to The Times-Picayune.
Hodges, 51, of Baton Rouge, pleaded guilty Friday to acting as a middleman in the payment of bribes from a city hall tech vendor, Mark St. Pierre, to Anthony Jones, the city’s former chief technology officer during the administration of ex-Mayor Ray Nagin.
GOP’s Perry narrowly wins vacant Louisiana Senate seat
ABBEVILLE (AP) — Unofficial election returns show that Republican Jonathan Perry has narrowly defeated Democrat Nathan Granger in the race to fill a vacant state Senate seat, possibly giving the GOP control of the Senate.
The Louisiana Secretary of State reported on its website Saturday night that Perry received 52 percent of the vote to 48 percent for Granger.
 
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