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USS Cole case on indefinite hold
MIAMI -- Legal proceedings at the Guantanamo Bay naval base against a Saudi accused in an attack on a U.S. warship have been put on indefinite hold.
Air Force Col. Vance Spath ruled that military commission proceedings against Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri can't go forward until another court resolves a dispute related to a decision by most of the defense team to quit the case.
Spath issued the ruling Friday at the U.S. base in Cuba.
Al-Nashiri is accused of orchestrating the deadly October 2000 bombing of the USS Cole.
His death-penalty case has repeatedly stalled since a 2011 arraignment. The latest delay began to emerge last fall when the lead defense lawyers resigned because of an unspecified violation of attorney-client privilege. Spath ordered two of them to return but they refused.
Pipeline spill cleanup on schedule
AMHERST, S.D. -- TransCanada Corp. says cleanup of a massive on-shore oil spill from Keystone Pipeline in South Dakota is halfway finished.
Last November, the pipeline leaked 210,000 gallons of crude oil onto agricultural land in Marshall County, one of the largest on-shore oil spills in the U.S. since 2010.
TransCanada spokeswoman Robynn Tysver told Aberdeen American News that the work has transitioned from excavation of the Amherst site to its remediation to original condition.
"All of the excavation work at the site has been completed, and most of the impacted soil has been removed," Tysver said. "We are now working to replace the top soil, with plans to seed later in the spring."
The pipeline moves oil from eastern Alberta, Canada to Oklahoma and Illinois.
TransCanada said the cleanup is on track with its schedule. The company also has agreed to restore the roads used by trucks transporting equipment and soil.
Last month, a half-ton of contaminated soil was spilled as the result of a truck rollover. The soil has been cleaned up and the truck's driver was charged with careless driving. A case is still open about an unknown truck driver dumping contaminated soil southwest of the leak site, according to the State Department of Environment and Natural Resources' leak database.
A spill and activity report on the agency's website shows that TransCanada has installed groundwater monitoring systems, which haven't yet detected any contamination.
An investigation into the cause of the leak is ongoing.
Senator facing voyeurism charge
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- A Rhode Island state senator has been arrested on charges of video voyeurism and extortion.
State police say Republican Sen. Nicholas Kettle was arrested Friday and was being taken to their headquarters to be processed. They say they're unsure when Kettle will appear in court.
Kettle's lawyer, Paul DiMaio, calls the video voyeurism charge "nonsense" and says he has no idea what the extortion charges are about.
State police Lt. Col. Joseph Philbin says the two extortion counts came through a grand jury indictment. The one count of video voyeurism was brought by state police, who won't comment further on the charges.
Kettle is 27 years old and serves as the Senate minority whip in the tiny Republican caucus. He represents parts of Coventry, Foster, Scituate and West Greenwich.
Students burned by chemical
ST. LOUIS -- Two St. Louis high school students were badly injured after a classmate threw an unknown chemical substance on them.
Police were called around 10 a.m. to Sumner High School. Authorities say a 16-year-old male student threw something on a 14-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl in the library. The students are in serious but stable condition with chemical burns on their faces.
The alleged attacker is in custody and authorities are trying to determine the chemical used in the attack.
By The Associated Press