Combined briefs package

Soldier killed in Vietnam buried

A Vietnam War soldier missing since his helicopter was shot down in 1970 was identified and laid to rest Tuesday at Arlington National Cemetery. The remains of Army Spc. John L. Burgess of Sutton Bay, Mich., were buried in a single casket along with the remains representing two members of his crew whose partial remains had been recovered previously, 1st Lt. Richard Dyer of Central Falls, R.I., and Sgt. 1st Class Juan Colon-Diaz of Comerio, Puerto Rico. They were among five soldiers aboard a helicopter that crashed near the Cambodian border in June 30, 1970. Burgess was the crew chief during the mission in South Vietnam. Only one soldier survived.

TEXAS

1,900 sign up for abortion testimony

More than 1,900 people signed up to testify about proposed abortion restrictions before a Texas House committee on Tuesday, but rules imposed by the panel’s top Republican mean no more than 140 members of the public would get a chance to speak. State Rep. Byron Cook imposed an eight-hour limit on the hearing, with each person getting just three minutes before the committee, and he chose a room with only 67 seats. The restrictions come after a similar hearing two weeks ago turned into a 12-hour marathon when 700 protesters slowed the passage of the bill in the first special session.

IRAQ

Bombs, clashes kill at least 56

Insurgents unleashed a wave of attacks on Tuesday in Iraq, killing at least 49 people, officials said, the latest in a surge in violence across the country that has raised concerns over a return to sectarian bloodshed. Also, seven militants were killed. There was no claim of responsibility for the attacks, mostly car bombs in Shiite areas.

PAKISTAN

U.S. drone kills 4 militants

Pakistani intelligence officials say unmanned U.S. aircraft fired four missiles early today at a house in northwest Pakistan, killing four militants. The officials said the militants were members of the Haqqani network. Two militants were wounded. The drone strike was in the Dande Darpa Khel area of the North Waziristan tribal region.

CALIFORNIA

Police: Teacher had student’s baby

Police arrested a Southern California high school teacher two weeks after she allegedly gave birth to a student’s baby. Redlands police spokesman Carl Baker said Laura Elizabeth Whitehurst, 28, acting on a tip from the boy’s mother, was arrested Monday night for allegedly having unlawful sex with a 16-year-old. Police said the sexual relationship began last summer and continued for nearly a year. The boy is now 17.

MEXICO

Kidnapping suspect’s charred body found

Prosecutors say police found the burned body of one of the main suspects in the abduction of 12 young people from a Mexico City after-hours club a month ago. Dax Rodriguez Ledezma’s body was found along with his girlfriend and another person in the town of Huitzilac in Morelos state. Rodriguez Ledezma was a co-owner of Heaven, an after-hours bar where the group was abducted on May 26. Another partner was arrested Friday.

PUERTO RICO

Bones missing from cemetery

The remains of at least 40 people are missing from a cemetery in a sleepy town where officials are trying to solve a mystery that has frightened neighbors and upset families. The apparent thefts occurred at Gurabo’s oldest cemetery. No one has been able to explain the disappearances. Some believe the bones are being stolen for Santeria rituals while others say thieves are snatching the steel boxes that hold the bones to sell on the black market.

CANADA

Pair charged in terror plot

Police in Canada arrested a man and woman and charged them with terrorism for attempting to leave pressure cooker bombs at British Columbia’s provincial legislature on Canada Day, when thousands of people were expected to be there. John Stewart Nuttall and Amanda Marie Korody, who were arrested Monday, were inspired by al-Qaida ideology but were self-radicalized, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Assistant Commissioner James Malizia said Tuesday. He called it a domestic threat without international connections.