Nation and world briefs

Thatcher coffin taken to Parliament

The body of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was taken Tuesday to the Houses of Parliament in London, where it will rest overnight before her funeral. The coffin, draped in a Union Flag, was driven to the Palace of Westminster and carried into the crypt chapel of St. Mary Undercroft, where about 100 family members, colleagues and senior politicians attended a private service for the late leader known as the Iron Lady. This morning, her coffin will travel by hearse to the church of St. Clement Danes before being borne on a horse-drawn gun carriage to St. Paul’s Cathedral.

FLORIDA

Suspect in FAMU hazing pleads no contest

A third band member charged with the hazing death of a Florida A&M drum major pleaded no contest Tuesday and agreed to testify against the remaining 11 defendants. Caleb Jackson, 24, pleaded no contest to manslaughter and felony hazing. By pleading no contest, Jackson does not admit guilt but acknowledges prosecutors have enough evidence to convict him. Jackson will be sentenced in the fall after giving testimony to prosecutors about what happened to drum major Robert Champion in November 2011.

PAKISTAN

Musharraf disqualified from election

High court judges disqualified former Pakistani military ruler Pervez Musharraf on Tuesday from running in the parliamentary election, likely ending any hope of a political comeback. The ruling was the latest blow for Musharraf, who has faced paltry public support, a raft of legal challenges and Taliban death threats since he returned to Pakistan last month after years in self-imposed exile. Many experts predicted this would be Musharraf’s fate if he came back and have been scratching their heads at what drove his decision.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Low enrollment found in vets jobs program

Federal auditors say a job-training program designed to help veterans re-enter the workforce has more than 60,000 empty slots, left unfilled despite efforts to reduce the jobless rate among veterans. The program is geared toward unemployed veterans between the ages of 35 and 60. It covers up to one year of tuition for training in high-demand jobs at local community or technical colleges. In all, Congress allowed for up to 99,000 participants, and the inspector general for the Department of Veterans Affairs found that only about a third of the slots were being used.

CALIFORNIA

Max Factor heir resentenced in rapes

An heir to the Max Factor fortune convicted of drugging and raping three women was resentenced Tuesday to a reduced 50-year term by a judge who earlier threw out an original 124-year prison term. Andrew Luster, 49, who has been in prison for a decade, was resentenced by Superior Court Judge Kathryne Ann Stoltz, the Ventura County Star reported. Luster’s lawyers Jay Leiderman and J. David Nick said in court documents filed last month that Luster is not a sexual predator and has had a “stellar performance” in prison. Prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum filed last week that Luster’s sentence was appropriate.

MOROCCO

War games with U.S. canceled over rights

Morocco on Tuesday canceled its annual military exercises with the United States after the Obama administration backed having the U.N. monitor human rights in the disputed territory of Western Sahara, U.S. officials said. The 13th annual “African Lion” exercise — involving 1,400 U.S. servicemen and 900 Moroccan troops, as well as foreign observers from places like France and Germany — had been set to start today with many personnel already in place. The troops and equipment were in the process of being redeployed, according to Eric Elliott, a spokesman for the U.S. Africa Command, or Africom.

WISCONSIN

Jury: Dad sane during killing of daughters

A jury Tuesday rejected an insanity defense by a Wisconsin father who admitted killing his three young daughters last July, ruling that the man had a mental defect but still understood what he was doing was wrong. Aaron Schaffhausen, 35, had earlier pleaded guilty in St. Croix County Circuit Court to three counts of first-degree intentional homicide and one count of attempted arson. But he had maintained he was not responsible for killing 11-year-old Amara, 8-year-old Sophie, and 5-year-old Cecilia because of a mental illness.

FRANCE

Research: Colic may be linked with migraines

The distressing nonstop crying in babies with colic is often blamed on tummy trouble, but a new study says the problem could be linked with migraine headaches in at least some infants. Children and teens treated for migraine headaches at three hospitals in Italy and France were much more likely than other kids to have had colic in infancy. The link has been suggested in other research, and if it can be proven, it could offer new hope for treating colic, the researchers said. Study co-author Dr. Luigi Titomanlio of Robert Debre Hospital in Paris said more studies would need to be done before anyone would recommend using migraine treatments for babies’ colic.

PENNSYLVANIA

Lawsuit against Penn State to go forward

A whistleblower and defamation lawsuit against Penn State will go forward, a judge ruled Tuesday, denying the university’s request to have it dismissed. Former assistant football coach Mike McQueary sued the school in October, claiming he was portrayed as untruthful in statements made in 2011 by the university’s president after Jerry Sandusky’s arrest. Judge Thomas Gavin said McQueary’s lawsuit makes sufficient claims of “outrageous conduct” on the part of the school to keep the case alive. He gave the school 20 days to respond to the lawsuit filed in October.