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The Petraeus scandal: What we know
Retired Army Gen. David Petraeus resigned from his CIA director post last week after an FBI investigation revealed he had an extramarital affair, an investigation that also prompted questions about whether his paramour had inappropriate access to classified information.
The scandal also has sparked an investigation into whether Marine Corps Gen. John Allen, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, sent inappropriate messages to a different woman, leading President Obama to put Allen’s nomination to become NATO’s supreme allied chief on hold.
Four-star general demoted for improper spending
Gen. William "Kip" Ward, the first four-star general to command U.S. military operations in Africa, will lose one star and retire as a lieutenant general, the Pentagon announced Tuesday.
The Army also wants $82,000 back from the officer, the statement said.
Investigators found Ward used his rank as a four-star general to shuttle his wife on shopping sprees, enjoyed a lavish beachfront trip and once accepted a defense contractor's gift of going backstage to meet actor Denzel Washington.
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Man says relationship with Elmo puppeteer ‘adult, consensual’
[Updated at 7:40 p.m. ET] A man who alleged he was 16 when he started a relationship with the puppeteer who provides the voice of Elmo on “Sesame Street” now says it was an “adult consensual relationship,” according to his lawyers.
The man, now 23, had told Sesame Workshop in June that he started a relationship with Kevin Clash as a teenager, according to the workshop. The workshop announced on Monday that a thorough investigation found “the allegation of underage conduct to be unsubstantiated.”
On Tuesday, a law firm saying it represented the man released a statement saying he “wants it to be known that his sexual relationship with Mr. Clash was an adult consensual relationship.”
Former Georgian minister charged with torture
The former interior minister of Georgia was charged Tuesday with torture and false imprisonment, state media in Russia reported.
Bacho Akhalaia resigned in September after videos surfaced on YouTube purportedly showing guards abusing prisoners.
Prosecutors said Akhalaia in February 2010 ordered guards to lock up 19 military members in unheated cells, where the men received no food for three days, RIA Novosti reported.
Akhalaia and two other military officials were charged with torture, false imprisonment, degrading treatment, physical and verbal abuse, and abuse of office, the news agency said.
In September, protests broke out after four videos became public. Georgian protesters, religious leaders and politicians all called for Akhalaia’s resignation after images.
At the time he quit, Akhalaia released a statement saying, "I am deeply horrified with the crime that has been revealed in Gldani N8 prison," referring to the facility in Tbilisi, Georgia's capital.
The country's Interior Ministry blamed certain prison employees for the degrading treatment.
But a former prison guard who left the country about four months ago and is seeking political asylum in Belgium put the blame on Akhalaia.
"I have been working in the system since 2001, but since 2005 when Akhalaia was put in charge, he introduced his criminal elements of leadership," Vladimir Bedukadze told CNN in late September.
Akhalaia, who was Georgia's defense minister from 2009 until he became interior minister in July, is being held in custody until he faces trial, RIA Novosti reported.
Day care operator found guilty of murdering four kids
A jury in Houston has found Jessica Tata guilty of murder in the deaths of four children in a fire.
Tata's carelessness led to the fire at her home day care in 2011 and she then fled - with seven children trapped inside, evidence showed. Three children were injured but survived.
CNN affiliate KTRK reports that Tata could face up to 99 years in prison.
After the fire in February last year, Tata fled to Nigeria. The U.S. Marshals Service named her one of its most wanted fugitives. The service said it worked "with international investigative resources in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, to bring Tata to justice."
She was arrested in Nigeria and brought back in less than a month.
Work begun to exhume Arafat's body
Editor's Note: Work began Tuesday to exhume the body of Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat amid an investigation of his 2004 death.
[Update 8:48 a.m.] The process of removing the marble tombstone on Arafat's grave to allow for exhumation of the body is under way, a Palestinian source said. The glass surrounding the mausoleum has been removed.
Radical cleric Abu Qatada released from jail
Radical cleric Abu Qatada was released from jail on bail today, following a successful appeal Monday against deportation from the United Kingdom to face terror charges in Jordan.
It's the latest stage in a long-running battle over British efforts to deport the man accused of funding terrorist groups and said to have inspired one of the 9/11 hijackers.
Bomb blast in southwest Pakistan kills 2
A remote-controlled bomb on a bicycle exploded in Quetta today, killing two people and wounding 11 others, police say.
The attack appears to have targeted paramilitary forces that were patrolling the area, according to Mir Zubair Mehmud, a police official. The blast wounded three paramilitary members.
38 Kenyan officers killed in ambush involving cattle rustlers
In the worst single incident for Kenyan police in living memory, 38 officers were killed in northern Kenya over the weekend by heavily armed cattle rustlers, according to injured police reservists who were on the scene.
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Gen. Allen under investigation in Petraeus scandal
[Update 2:25 a.m. ET] A statement from Defense Secretary Leon Panetta says a confirmation hearing on Allen’s pending nomination to be commander of the U.S. European Command and Supreme Allied Commander, Europe will be delayed.
[Updated 2:15 a.m. ET] The Department of Defense Inspector General is reviewing 20,000 – 30,000 documents connected with the investigation.
[Posted 1:59 a.m. ET] Gen. John Allen, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, is under investigation for alleged "inappropriate communications" with Jill Kelley, who reportedly received threatening e-mails from Paula Broadwell, the Pentagon and a senior defense official said. Ex-CIA chief David Petraeus resigned after having an extramarital affair with a woman later identified as Broadwell, who was also his biographer.
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