LOUISIANA
Body found in teacher’s car
Authorities pulled a missing teacher’s car from a New Orleans bayou Saturday and police said there was a decomposed body inside. Authorities couldn’t immediately say whether the body was Terrilyn Monette, who was last seen leaving a New Orleans bar not far from the bayou in the early morning hours of March 2. She would’ve had to cross the waterway to get home. An autopsy will be performed Monday to determine the identity of the body and cause of death.
IOWA
Girl’s body found in river
Investigators say they are confident that a body found Friday night by fisherman in the Des Moines River is that of Kathlynn Shepard. The 15-year-old was abducted on May 20 along with a 12-year-old girl who later escaped and found help. An autopsy was completed Saturday and a positive identification is pending. Authorities suspect Michael Klunder, 42, a registered sex offender, of abducting the girls. Klunder committed suicide.
AUSTRALIA
Boat capsizes in Indian Ocean
A boat carrying up to 60 asylum seekers capsized in the Indian Ocean and no survivors have been found, authorities said Saturday. Australian Customs said the submerged hull of the boat was spotted by the crew of a search plane on Friday. An Australian navy ship joined the search and recovered nine bodies Saturday. The search for survivors is continuing.
LIBYA
Benghazi gunfight leaves 7 dead
A gunfight between protesters and former rebels aligned with the military in Libya’s eastern city of Benghazi left seven people dead on Saturday. The clashes also left 37 people wounded, said a doctor in the city’s main hospital. A security official said the fighting broke out after protesters stormed a base belonging to Libya Shield, a grouping of pro-government militias tasked to maintain security. The protesters were demanding the militias to give up their weapons and submit to the full authority of Libya’s security forces.
NIGERIA
Islamic extremists suspected in killings
Suspected Islamic extremists who hid their assault rifles inside a coffin launched an attack against vigilantes in a northeast Nigeria city at the heart of the country’s bloody insurgency, killing 13 people before being shot by security forces, witnesses said Saturday. The attack happened Friday in Maiduguri, the spiritual home of the extremist network Boko Haram that’s now targeted as part of a regional military offensive against extremists in the West African nation. The attack targeted members of a youth vigilante group made up of men who point out suspected Boko Haram members to the military.
SYRIA
Car bomb kills 7 people in Homs
A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden car Saturday in Syria’s central city of Homs, tearing through an area largely populated by the regime’s Alawite sect and killing seven people, a state-owned TV station reported. Meanwhile, government troops took control of a key village as the regime presses its offensive to clear a path between Damascus and the Mediterranean coast. Syrian state TV also said Saturday that government troops took control of the village of Buwaydah between Qusair and Homs after intensive clashes.
ILLINOIS
Suspect in ‘79 slaying arrested
A former Chicago store owner who fled the U.S. in 1979 after being accused of killing a shoplifter was arrested at O’Hare International Airport while trying to return to the country to attend a graduation ceremony, authorities said Saturday. Ata Yousef El Ammouri, 65, was taken into custody Friday after arriving on a flight from Jordan, where he has been living, the Cook County sheriff’s office said in a statement. El Ammouri was charged with murder but posted $100,000 bail and disappeared. El Ammouri is accused of shooting 31-year-old Joe Harris on July 22, 1979, after Harris walked out of El Ammouri’s store on Chicago’s South Side without paying for a can of beer.
MASSACHUSETTS
Exhibit documents JFK at Cape Cod
A new museum exhibit tells the story of President John F. Kennedy’s last visits to Cape Cod in the months before his assassination. Officials at the John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum said the exhibit includes videos, photos and news clips that look back on the final days of the president’s administration through a Cape Cod lens. The exhibit also explores how JFK’s assassination in November 1963 affected people on Cape Cod.
FRANCE
Pooches, owners march in Paris
At least 100 dogs — with owners in tow, holding leashes — marched Saturday near the Louvre to demand more park space and access to public transportation for the four-legged friends. Organizers of the canine-citizen march dubbed “My Dog, My City” estimate about 200,000 dogs live in Paris. They say other cities like New York, London, Montreal and Brussels offer more dog-oriented public spaces. According to the city’s website, two of Paris’ 20 sections have only one reserved public park space for dogs. Leashes are required.
NEBRASKA
Charity lunch goes for $1 million
The annual charity auction of a private lunch with billionaire investor Warren Buffett went for just more than $1 million — a bargain price compared to past years for an opportunity to sit down with one of the world’s most successful philanthropists. An anonymous donor had the high bid of $1,000,100 when the bidding ended Friday night on eBay. The private audience with Buffett drew bids of more than $2 million in each of the past five years, including last year’s record-setting winning bid of $3,456,789. All proceeds go to the Glide Foundation, which helps the poor and homeless in San Francisco. Buffett said he will spend time discussing whatever the winner wants to talk about, except potential investments.
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