- Scotland’s justice minister on Monday defended his much-criticized decision to free the Lockerbie bomber, as the U.S. State Department said that it disagreed “passionately.”
- A law enforcement official tells The Associated Press that the Los Angeles County coroner has ruled Michael Jackson’s death a homicide. Dr. Conrad Murray, Jackson’s personal physician, is the target of a manslaughter probe headed by Los Angeles police.
- The Iranian-backed Shiite parties that helped propel Iraq’s prime minister Nouri al- Maliki into power three years ago dumped him Monday as their candidate for re-election. The move set the stage for a showdown within the Shiite coalition that has dominated Iraq’s government since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003.
Information from AP exchange
