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Updated: May 29, 2012 - 8:37 PM

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NEW JERSEY

Student apologizes in gay spying case

Former Rutgers University student Dharun Ravi openly apologized for the first time for using a webcam to spy on a sexual liaison between a man and a roommate who later killed himself, saying he regrets his "thoughtless, insensitive, immature, stupid and childish choices." Ravi also said he would begin serving a 30-day jail term on Thursday even though he doesn't have to, pending appeals. In March, a jury convicted Ravi of all 15 criminal counts with which he was charged, including bias intimidation of roommate Tyler Clementi.

TEXAS

Man dies in fall from crane after standoff

Dallas police said a 44-year-old man fell 150 feet to his death as police tried to coax him down from a construction crane after a more than 14-hour standoff. Lee Dell Thomas Jr. died early Tuesday after slipping from the cab of the crane. He scrambled up the crane at Southern Methodist University around midday Monday and endured sweltering temperatures in the 90s all afternoon. Police said Thomas may have been involved in a robbery Monday in which a vehicle was stolen.

RUSSIA

Journalist stabbed at his Moscow home

A radio journalist known for reporting on corrupt traffic police and who recently referred to the prophet Mohammed as a businessman was stabbed outside his home. Sergei Aslanyan, a popular anchor for the Mayak radio station, was hit on the head with a heavy object and stabbed multiple times in the chest, neck and arms. Police said Aslanyan, who did not suffer life-threatening injuries, was attacked by an unknown assailant. Sergei Arkhipov, a deputy general director of the Russian State Television and Radio Co., said Aslanyan told him the attacker had screamed, "You insulted Allah!"

PHILIPPINES

Chief justice ousted over finances

The chief justice of the Supreme Court, Renato Corona, was removed from office after it was disclosed during an impeachment trial that he failed to declare $2.4 million in foreign currency deposits. In a country where high-ranking public officials are often removed through street protests, and no one had ever been successfully impeached and convicted, the verdict was seen as a victory for the political maturity of the Philippines. Corona was accused of biased decisions and hiding assets. Corona's impeachment -- and the prosecution of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo -- have been central to the anti-corruption campaign of President Benigno Aquino III.

JAPAN

Chinese envoy leaves amid spy suspicions

A senior diplomat from the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo left Japan amid an investigation into suspicions of espionage for the past five years. Tokyo's Metropolitan Police Department believes that the diplomat, whose was first secretary of the embassy, was improperly approaching "key figures in Japan's political and business circles since he was given the post in charge of economic issues at the embassy" in the summer of 2007, the Kyodo news service reported. The diplomat worked for China's People's Liberation Army, the report said. Diplomatic relations between Japan and China were already icy due to a recent visit to Tokyo by Rebiya Kadeer, a leader of China's ethnic minority Uighurs. China considers Kadeer a separatist. There was no immediate comment from the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

NEWS SERVICES