DEATH PENALTY
HIGH COURT REBUFFS DEATH ROW APPEALS
The latest: The Supreme Court on Monday turned away appeals from 11 death row prisoners in seven states, including that of Texas' Carlton Turner Jr., who killed his parents and continued to live in their home as their bodies decomposed, then cleaned up the scene so he could have a party for friends.
What it means: The move was not unexpected, given the court's ruling last week that Kentucky's lethal injection procedure was not unconstitutional. Barriers to executions in other states may also be lifted soon.
SCHOOL PLOT
NEW SECURITY AFTER TEEN'S ARREST
The latest: Students arriving Monday at a small high school in Chesterfield, S.C., faced newly installed metal detectors and extra security -- including bomb-sniffing dogs -- after a student was arrested over the weekend in what authorities said was a plan to carry out a Columbine-inspired attack.
Hearing today: Prosecutor Jay Hodge said he will ask that alleged plotter, Ryan Schallenberger, 18, undergo a mental evaluation at a hearing today.
A top student: Schallenberger was a top student who had won an academic award from Newberry College in the last school year, school officials said.
The back story: Schallenberger's parents alerted police Saturday after discovering the teen had ordered 10 pounds of ammonium nitrate, which they'd retrieved after getting a delivery notice from the postal service, authorities said. He kept a journal for more than a year that detailed his plans and left an audio tape that was to be played after he died explaining why he wanted to bomb his school, authorities said.
UNMANNED SPY PLANE
ALLEGATIONS ROIL GEORGIA-RUSSIA TIES
The latest: A Russian fighter jet has shot down an unmanned Georgian spy plane as it flew over the breakaway region of Abkhazia, Georgia's air force commander said Monday.
Georgia's reaction: The two countries' presidents discussed the incident Monday in what Georgian leader Mikhail Saakashvili termed a "difficult conversation." "I categorically demanded that the Russian leadership without delay rescind the illegal judicial actions it has taken," he said.
Caught on tape? Col. David Nairashvili, Georgia's air force commander, said a video recorded by the plane before it was shot down Sunday shows the attacking jet was a Russian MiG-29.
Russia's take: The Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin expressed his "bewilderment" that Georgia had a spy plane over Abkhazia. "This violates the letter and spirit" of a 1994 cease-fire, it said.
SINGAPORE
DETAILS OF TERROR SUSPECT'S ESCAPE
The latest: An unsecured bathroom window and complacent guards allowed a top terror suspect to flee a high-security prison in February, Singapore's deputy prime minister said in announcing the results of an inquiry into the embarrassing escape.
The fallout: Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng said the officers responsible would be penalized and replaced. He said there was no evidence suggesting it was an inside job. Security breaches are rare in tightly controlled Singapore.
Still free: Mas Selamat Kastari, suspecting of having ties to the Jemaah Islamiyah terror network, has not been caught despite a nationwide manhunt
NEWS SERVICES
