Joran van der Sloot was charged with murder Friday in the slaying of a 21-year-old student in Lima, Peru, according to court documents.
Van der Sloot, a 22-year-old Dutch citizen, is suspected of killing Stephany Flores Ramirez last month. Ramirez was found beaten to death in a hotel room registered in van der Sloot's name.
Gulf oil disaster - Researchers have doubled estimates of how much oil has been spewing from a ruptured well in the Gulf of Mexico, reporting Thursday that up to 40,000 barrels (1.7 million gallons) a day may have escaped for weeks. Well owner BP has been able to capture a varying percentage of that oil, first with a siphon inserted into the well riser and since June 3 with a cap that allowed workers to draw nearly 16,000 barrels to a ship on the surface Wednesday.
The change in estimates comes as a delegation of U.S. senators head to the heart of coastal Louisiana on Friday to assess the damage caused by the growing BP oil disaster. Sens. Benjamin Cardin, David Vitter, Jeff Merkley and Barbara Mikulski will be in Grand Isle, Louisiana, one of the early areas hit by the slick created by the underwater gusher.
[Updated 10:05 a.m.] Peru murder suspect Joran van der Sloot, a longtime suspect in the disappearance of an American teen in Aruba, was transferred from a police facility to the national attorney general's office Thursday morning, according to images broadcast by CNN affiliate America TV in Peru.
Peruvian TV earlier reported that he was transferred to a medical facility, which is across the street from the national attorney general's office.
[Updated at 9:50 a.m.] Peru murder suspect Joran van der Sloot, a longtime suspect in the disappearance of an American teen in Aruba, was transferred from a police facility to a medical facility Thursday morning, according to images broadcast by CNN affiliates in Peru.
[Posted at 9:00 a.m.] The attorney for Peru murder suspect Joran van der Sloot said he's going to ask the judge in charge of the case to strike down his client's confession because he was not being properly represented at the time he was interrogated, lawyer Maximo Altez told CNN affiliate Panamericana TV in an interview that aired Thursday.
Gulf oil disaster - Oil from the massive spill in the Gulf has moved into the inland waterway along coastal Alabama, prompting the U.S. Coast Guard to close Perdido Pass, the main water access route for fishermen and boaters in the popular resort town of Orange Beach. BP and the government have tried to protect the pass for weeks with thousands of feet of boom, but thick waves of oil have seeped into the pass and down the waterway, coating the marshy shoreline as it moves through.
[Updated at 7:48 p.m. ET] A representative for Natalee Holloway's mother who paid $25,000 for information on the whereabouts of her remains last month was an undercover FBI agent, a federal law enforcement official told CNN.
However, the FBI and the U.S. attorney's office in Birmingham, Alabama, said Wednesday that the FBI did not supply the money.
"Some news accounts have suggested that the FBI provided $25,000 in funds that were transmitted to van der Sloot. This is incorrect. The funds involved were private funds," the FBI and U.S. attorney's office said in a statement.
An Interpol document says van der Sloot faces criminal charges in Alabama because he allegedly tried to extort money from Holloway's mother. U.S. authorities filed extortion and wire fraud charges against van der Sloot this week.
The FBI and U.S. attorney's office in Birmingham arranged for a meeting where van der Sloot was paid $10,000 in cash and another $15,000 in a wire transfer for information van der Sloot allegedly promised would lead to Holloway's body in Aruba, a source familiar with the case said. The meeting took place in May, according to the U.S. attorney's office in Birmingham.
Joran van der Sloot, Stephany Flores, Natalee Holloway. These names dominated Google trends for most of Tuesday, when news broke that van der Sloot allegedly confessed to Peruvian authorities to killing Flores. Adding to the intrigue, sources close to the investigation said the Dutchman admitted to killing Flores after she discovered information on his laptop linking him to the disappearance of Alabama teen Natalee Holloway.
"Peru prisons" was also a popular search term late in the afternoon, with many wondering what kind of conditions van der Sloot might face if he enters one of Peru's 71 active prisons.
A 2009 U.S. State Department report on Peru's human rights record noted that while the South American country's government generally respects the human rights of its citizens, prison conditions were harsh for the country's 44,800 inmates - 17,297 of whom were awaiting sentencing as of December 2009, according to the report.
Among the areas of serious concern highlighted were overcrowding, poor sanitation and inadequate nutrition and health care. The San Juan de Lurigancho men's prison held 9,874 prisoners in a facility designed for 3,204 and incidences of tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS were reportedly at near-epidemic levels, according to the report.
Natalee Holloway disappeared in Aruba in 2005. Joran Van der Sloot was arrested twice, but never charged in the case.
The mother of Natalee Holloway on Tuesday urged her supporters to keep "in our hearts and in our prayers" the family of the woman that Joran van der Sloot is now accused of killing.
Beth Holloway made the remark at the opening of a resource center in Washington for the families of missing persons, a center that bears her daughter's name.
Van der Sloot was arrested twice in connection with Natalee Holloway's 2005 disappearance in Aruba but was released for lack of evidence. He denied any involvement and has not been charged in the Holloway case, but was arrested last week by authorities in Peru in connection with the killing of 21-year-old Stephany Flores Ramirez.
Dutch youth lives under shadow of Holloway case 5 years later
Authorities say Joran van der Sloot has confessed to killing a Peruvian woman.
[Updated at 11:28 a.m.] Joran Van der Sloot told police he killed 21-year-old Stephany Flores Ramirez last week when she found some information on his laptop computer that tied him to the disappearance of Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway five years ago, Peruvian authorities said Tuesday.
"I did not want to do it," van der Sloot is said to have told authorities. "The girl intruded into my private life."
[Posted at 11:08 a.m] Joran van der Sloot, the longtime suspect in the disappearance of an Alabama teenager in Aruba, is slated to take Peruvian authorities on a re-enactment Tuesday at the hotel room where the body of a young woman he has confessed to killing was found last week, officials said.
Van der Sloot offered a tearful confession Monday night to killing 21-year-old Stephany Flores Ramirez, Peruvian authorities said.
Joran van der Sloot is being investigated in connection with the death of Stephany Flores Ramirez, right, and was a suspect in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway.
[Updated at 9:23 a.m.] Joran van der Sloot, the suspect in the slaying of a 21-year-old Peruvian woman this week, left Santiago, Chile, aboard a military aircraft in the custody of officers Friday morning. He will be flown to the border with Peru and expelled, Interpol said.
[Posted at 7:51 a.m.] The Chilean government has decided to expel murder suspect Joran van der Sloot to Peru, where he is wanted in connection with the slaying of a 21-year-old woman, Interpol said Friday.
Van der Sloot is expected to be transported aboard a military airplane from Santiago, Chile's capital, to the border city of Arica, said Macarena Lopez, a spokeswoman for Interpol.
The Dutch citizen was previously a suspect in the 2005 disappearance of Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway, who was on a high school graduation trip to the Caribbean island of Aruba. Van der Sloot was arrested twice in connection with the case but released both times. He denied any involvement and has not been charged.
Joran van der Sloot is being investigated in connection with the death of Stephany Flores Ramirez, right, and was a suspect in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway.
[Updated at 1:13 p.m.] Joran van der Sloot has been arrested and is in police custody in Santiago, Chile, an Interpol spokesperson in Santiago told CNN.
Van der Sloot, who was previously considered a suspect in the 2005 disappearance of Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway in Aruba, is the main suspect in this week's slaying of 21-year-old Stephany Flores Ramirez, officials said. She was was found Wednesday in a Lima, Peru, hotel room registered to van der Sloot. Chilean police told CNN that paperwork showed that van der Sloot entered Chile on Wednesday.
Peruvian Interior Minister Octavio Salazar Miranda said Thursday that Peru has made arrangements with Interpol to extradite van der Sloot.
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