FLORIDA
New judge is named in Zimmerman case The new judge in the George Zimmerman murder case will be Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester Jr., who has been on the bench 15 years. The case passed to him after the originally assigned judge, Circuit Judge Jessica Recksiedler, recused herself. Zimmerman's attorney asked her to step aside because of a possible conflict of interest: Her husband is the law partner of Mark NeJame, who has been hired to comment on the case for CNN.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
High court limits scope of torture law The Supreme Court limited the reach of a law that protects U.S. citizens from torture in other countries, ruling that victims can sue only individuals, not organizations or corporations. The justices unanimously threw out a suit filed against the Palestinian Authority and Palestine Liberation Organization by the relatives of Azzam Rahim, an American allegedly tortured and murdered in the West Bank during the 1990s. In its next term, the court will consider the scope of a similar law that applies to noncitizens.
Guard pulling back from Mexico border The Pentagon began flying Black Hawk military helicopters and surveillance planes over the U.S. border with Mexico last month as part of an effort to withdraw all but 300 of the National Guard ground troops who have helped patrol the area since mid-2010. The 19-month deployment of 1,200 National Guard troops on the southwest border has hurt recruiting efforts and threatened to strain diplomatic relations with Mexico, Brian Lepore, a director at the Government Accountability Office, told a House homeland security subcommittee hearing.
SYRIA
Security forces open fire near monitors Syrian security forces opened fire on anti-regime demonstrators surrounding the cars of a U.N. team meant to monitor a shaky cease-fire, sending the observers speeding off, videotape of the incident showed. The shooting, which wounded at least eight of the protesters in Arbeen, a suburb of Damascus, could complicate the deployment of a larger U.N. mission.
INDIA
Long-range missile launch is successful India successfully test-launched a long-range missile that would give it the capability of sending a nuclear warhead as far as China's capital, Beijing, for the first time, news agencies reported. Officials said that the Agni-V missile would mark a significant improvement in India's nuclear-deterrent capability and strengthen its hand in a hostile neighborhood, where the country is sandwiched between nuclear-armed rivals Pakistan and China.
SPAIN
King apologizes over elephant hunt "I am very sorry. I made a mistake," King Juan Carlos said in an unprecedented apology to the nation. The 74-year-old monarch was asking forgiveness for going elephant hunting in Africa while his country is in the grip of an economic crisis. Juan Carlos made his apology on leaving a hospital, where he had been recovering from a hip injury suffered in a fall during the safari in Botswana -- reportedly paid for by a Saudi businessman.
NEWS SERVICES
