March 29th, 2013
09:34 PM ET
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Rapist caught after 35 years on run

Convicted serial rapist Gary Irving was offered a weekend of freedom by a judge in Massachusetts before reporting to jail. He took nearly 35 years.

One of Massachusetts' most wanted fugitives was living a quiet life in Gorham, Maine, until he was arrested Wednesday night at his home. Irving, 52, was found living under the name Gregg Irving, Massachusetts State Police spokesman Dave Procopio said Friday in a statement.

Irving was convicted in 1978 of raping three young women in Norfolk County, Massachusetts. According to Massachusetts State Police, Judge Robert Prince released the 18-year-old defendant on bail to his parents in order to make final arrangements before sentencing. Irving, facing the possibility of life in prison, never returned.

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Filed under: Crime • Maine • Massachusetts • U.S.
March 29th, 2013
09:27 PM ET
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Report: China coal mine blast kills 28

A gas explosion at a northeastern Chinese coal mine killed 28 people, China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported Saturday.

Thirteen people were rescued following the incident, which happened Friday, according to Xinhua.

The blast occurred in the northeastern Chinese province of Jilin.

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Filed under: Accidents • China • World
March 29th, 2013
08:33 PM ET
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North Korea says it's at war with South

North Korea has entered a "state of war" with neighboring South Korea, according to a report from the state-run Korean Central News Agency.

North and South Korea technically remain at war since their conflict between 1950 and 1953 ended with an armistice and not a peace treaty. On March 11, the North Korean army declared the armistice agreement invalid.

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Filed under: North Korea • South Korea • War • World
NYC appeals ruling on big-soda ban
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg wants to limit sugary drinks to 16 ounces.
March 29th, 2013
07:02 PM ET
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NYC appeals ruling on big-soda ban

As Mayor Michael Bloomberg vowed would happen, the New York City Law Department has filed an appeal after a New York judge scrapped the city's controversial ban on big containers of soda.

"Consistent with our desire to get a quick appellate review, the city filed its brief with the appeals court this week," said Fay Ng, senior counsel for the department's appeals division, in a written statement. "The sugary drinks proposal is an important part of the mayor's health initiative."

The Board of Health regulation would limit the size of drinking cups for sugary beverages to a maximum of 16 ounces at food service establishments in the city.

The regulation was adopted in September to help lower obesity rates, but a state Supreme Court judge overturned it as "arbitrary and capricious."

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Filed under: Health • New York • Nutrition • U.S.
March 29th, 2013
06:42 PM ET
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SEAL Team Six member killed in accident

A U.S. Navy SEAL was killed and another was injured in a training accident in Arizona, a U.S. Department of Defense official said Friday.

The SEAL who was killed belonged to SEAL Team Six, the elite squad from which a team was selected to go after Osama bin Laden in Pakistan two years ago, a source said.

The accident occurred Thursday at a U.S. Special Operations Command parachute testing and training facility at Pinal Airpark, Arizona.

The SEALs were transported to the University of Arizona Medical Center, where one remains hospitalized, the official said.

The accident is under investigation, the official said.

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Filed under: Accidents • Arizona • Military • U.S. • U.S. Navy
March 29th, 2013
06:17 PM ET
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35 indicted in Atlanta cheating scandal

Thirty-five Atlanta Public Schools educators and administrators were indicted Friday on a myriad of charges in connection with alleged cheating in standardized testing, one of the largest cheating scandals to hit the nation's public education system.

Among those indicted by a Fulton County, Georgia, grand jury was Beverly Hall, the former schools superintendent who gained national recognition in 2009 for turning around Atlanta's school system.

There were 65 counts in the indictment, which included charges of racketeering, influencing a witness, theft by taking and making false statements or writings.

 

 

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Filed under: Crime • Education • Georgia • U.S.
March 29th, 2013
05:17 PM ET
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Khmer Rouge leader cleared for trial

The most senior surviving Khmer Rouge leader, Nuon Chea, has been declared fit for trial by a United Nations-backed court in Cambodia, the U.N. said Friday.

Nuon, the right-hand man to late leader Pol Pot and a former Cambodian prime minister, is reportedly 86 years old and is accused of murder and torture.

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Filed under: Cambodia • Courts • Justice • United Nations • World
Ex-Syracuse coach to sue ESPN
Prosecutors never filed charges against former Syracuse assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine.
March 29th, 2013
05:14 PM ET
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Ex-Syracuse coach to sue ESPN

Axed Syracuse University assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine intends to file a defamation suit against ESPN over its previous reporting that he sexually abused young boys.

Four people accused Fine of molesting them, including stepbrothers and former Syracuse ball boys Mike Lang and Bobby Davis, who in 2011 accused the coach of molesting them over several years.

Fine, who served as assistant basketball coach at Syracuse for 35 years, maintained his innocence throughout the investigations, and no charges were ever brought against him.

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Filed under: Courts • Justice
Hundreds rescued from ice floes
Rescuers leave the Riga Port Authority on Friday after more than 200 people were plucked off ice floes that broke away from the mainlaind.
March 29th, 2013
04:08 PM ET
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Hundreds rescued from ice floes

More than 220 people have been rescued after two ice floes broke off from the Latvian coast and were blown into the Gulf of Riga, Latvian emergency services said Friday.

All 181 people on the larger floe near the capital city of Riga were removed by boat, and 42 people were rescued by helicopter from the smaller floe off the coast of Jurmala, a nearby seaside resort town.

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Filed under: Latvia • Weather • World
UPS to forfeit $40 million
UPS has agreed to forfeit $40 million in payments from illegal online pharmacies.
March 29th, 2013
02:48 PM ET
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UPS to forfeit $40 million

United Parcel Service will forfeit $40 million in payments it received from illegal online pharmacies and take steps to make sure such groups no longer use the shipper's services, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration announced Friday.

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Filed under: Business • Drugs • Justice • U.S.
March 29th, 2013
02:38 PM ET
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Tibet landslide buries 83 workers

A landslide buried 83 workers in a mining area in the Tibet Autonomous Region on Friday morning, China's official Xinhua News Agency reported, citing local authorities.

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Filed under: China • Tibet • World
March 29th, 2013
07:46 AM ET
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Friday's live events

Watch CNN.com Live for gavel-to-gavel coverage of the trial of Jodi Arias, who's accused of killing her ex-boyfriend in 2008.  The trial resumes on Tuesday, April 2.

Today's programming highlights...

12:00 pm ET - Good Friday at the Vatican - Pope Francis leads his first Good Friday Mass as pontiff at the Vatican.  He'll then participate in a "Stations of the Cross" ceremony in Rome at 4:15 pm ET.

3:00 pm ET - Obama talks economy in Miami - President Obama is expected to call for more government spending on infrastructure projects when he speaks in Miami, Florida.

CNN.com Live is your home for breaking news as it happens.

 
Filed under: Barack Obama • Catholic Church • Crime • Justice • On CNN.com today • Politics • Religion