COMBINED BRIEFS

ARIZONA

30-year sentence in border agent’s death

A man convicted in the shooting death of a federal Border Patrol agent during a firefight that revealed the government’s botched gun-smuggling investigation known as Operation Fast and Furious was sentenced Monday to 30 years in prison. Manuel Osorio-Arellanes, who is from El Fuerte in the Mexican state of Sinaloa, is the only person to be convicted in the Dec. 14, 2010, shooting death of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry near the Arizona-Mexico border.

NEW JERSEY

More subpoenas being issued in bridge probe

At least a dozen new subpoenas were authorized Monday by a New Jersey legislative committee investigating a plot by aides to Gov. Chris Christie to create traffic gridlock on the George Washington Bridge, apparently for political retribution. The panel also agreed to take additional steps to enforce subpoenas to two key figures in the bridge scandal — former Christie campaign manager Bill Stepien and fired deputy chief of staff Bridget Kelly. Committee chairman John Wisniewski would not name the new subpoena recipients until they are served, possibly today.

MARSHALL ISLANDS

Sea survivor to return home

A Salvadoran man who says he drifted in an open boat across the Pacific for more than a year thanked people in the Marshall Islands for taking care of him and said he was “doing very well” before starting his journey home Monday. Marshall Islands President Christopher Loeak bid Jose Salvador Alvarenga farewell at the airport. said he was “doing very well.” About 50 officials, volunteers and reporters gathered at the airport to see off Alvarenga, who was clean-shaven and walking without assistance. He was flying first to Hawaii and then on to El Salvador be reunited with his family.

VIRGINIA

NTSB: Bounty captain made ‘reckless decision’

The captain of a replica 18th-century sailing ship that sank off North Carolina in Superstorm Sandy made a reckless decision to sail the HMS Bounty into the hurricane’s well-forecast path, the National Transportation Safety Board reported Monday in Virginia. The three-masted wooden sailing ship sank about 125 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras in October 2012 as Sandy churned up the Atlantic seaboard. The newly released NTSB report said Capt. Robin Walbridge’s “reckless decision” to sail into the storm subjected the aging vessel and its inexperienced crew to conditions they couldn’t surmount. One crew member died and Walbridge was never found. Three other crew members aboard the vessel were seriously injured.

MEXICO

Skeletal remains found along U.S. border

Mexican officials say hundreds of skeletal remains have been found scattered on ranches in a stretch of towns along the U.S.-Mexico border as police carried out a wide search to locate missing people. Coahuila state prosecutors’ spokesman Jesus Carranza said Monday the remains were burned and extremely hard to identify. Police have not said whether an organized crime group is suspected, but it’s an area known to be dominated by the Zetas drug cartel. Investigators found bullet casings as well as barrels of diesel fuel at some of the farms likely used to burn bodies.

GUYANA

Heavy security after U.S. warning

International flights departed from Guyana under heavier than normal security Monday following an unusual threat alert from the U.S. government. Police and soldiers joined regular airport security at the main international airport in the South American country to conduct security screenings of all travelers, Transport Minister Robeson Benn said. Three Caribbean Airlines flights departed for New York without incident. The transportation minister told parliament that there were 13 fewer passengers than on a typical day because of the warning.

ENGLAND

Experts: EU rules deny kids medicines

Leading cancer experts at Britain’s Institute of Cancer Research say Europe’s antiquated drug regulatory system is stopping children from getting life-saving medicines and are calling for changes that would remove a loophole that allows companies to skip developing medicines for children already approved for adults. According to European rules, pharmaceutical companies that create a licensed cancer drug for adults are supposed to submit a plan for how that treatment might work in children. But they can sidestep that requirement if the drug treats a cancer in adults that doesn’t usually affect children, such as lung cancer.

IRAN

Report: Two missiles test-fired

Iran successfully test-fired two missiles, including a long-range ballistic weapon, the official IRNA news agency reported on Monday. The report by IRNA quoted President Hassan Rouhani as congratulating the military. The test came a day after a group of lawmakers accused Rouhani of halting a scheduled missile exercise. It was not clear if this was the same test.

BELGIUM

EU urges new government in Ukraine

In a sharp rebuke to Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, the European Union on Monday called for the formation of a new, inclusive government and constitutional reforms that would pave the way to “free and fair presidential elections.” The bloc’s 28 foreign ministers said in a joint statement from Brussels that they were “alarmed by the human rights situation, including violence, cases of missing persons, torture and intimidation” as part of the authorities’ crackdown against the ongoing protests, reflecting an “atmosphere of impunity.” Ukraine has been rocked by nearly three months of anti-government protests sparked by Yanukovych’s refusal to sign an agreement with the EU and accept a $15 billion loan package from Russia instead.