June 23 Reports: Justin James Barney, 20, was arrested for assault and disorderly conduct. Richard Emil Racette III, 21, was arrested for disorderly conduct. Randall Richard Kilby, 21, was cited for driving without insurance and a suspended license. Edward Armando Vasquez, 50, was arrested for suspicion of DUII. Amanda Rae Dick, 29, was cited for driving with a suspended license. Travis Neil Hurt, 23, was arrested for possession of meth. Richard Brian Grotsky, 29, was ... [full story]

TEXARKANA, Texas -- A Texas appeals court refused to overturn the conviction of a black teenager sentenced to youth prison for pushing a high school hall monitor. The case of Shaquanda Cotton drew national attention after it was revealed that just three months before she was sentenced to prison by Lamar County Judge Churck Superville, the judge handed probation to a 14-year-old white girl convicted of a more serious crime, The Chicago Tribune reported Friday. ... [full story]

MILWAUKEE -- Dental records have identified a body pulled from Lake Michigan in Milwaukee as a St. Francis, Wis., banker. The St. Francis Police Department said Keith Gores, who disappeared March 22 while traveling to work at M&I Bank, was identified through an autopsy and dental record examination, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Friday. The body was found by people visiting South Shore Park Wednesday evening. It was recovered from the water by the Milwaukee ... [full story]

AUSTIN, Texas -- The 44 consecutive days of rain in Texas have claimed 13 lives so far, state officials said Friday. Another five people were missing, the San Antonio Express-News reported. The rain, which has stretched from southern to northern Texas, has destroyed close to 1,000 homes. "It's unprecedented in the scope of the size (of the area affected) and the time we've been under this," Division of Emergency Management Chief Jack Colley told the ... [full story]

GALVESTON, Texas -- The body of a man who survived a hate crime attack then committed suicide by jumping off a cruise ship was removed from the ship Friday in Galveston, Texas. WTRK-TV reported that David Ritcheson's body was removed from the cruise ship Ecstasy around 7 a.m. Friday. Passengers aboard the ship told the television station they were aware of Ritcheson's death but didn't realize his body was still aboard. "We heard stories about ... [full story]

ASBURY PARK, N.J. -- Miss New Jersey says someone is trying to blackmail her into giving up her crown. "Being crowned as Miss New Jersey is a dream come true. But that dream has now turned into a nightmare. I am presently the victim of blackmail and possible extortion," Amy Polumbo, 22, told a news conference in Asbury Park Thursday, The Newark Star-Ledger reported. Polumbo said she received a letter with copies of photographs she ... [full story]

LONDON -- A computer whiz who pleaded guilty in London to running a network of computer sites promoting terrorism was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Younis Tsouli, 23, is the son of a Moroccan diplomat, The Washington Post reported Friday. "He actually served as a kind of travel agent, setting up suicide bombers with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi," a radical Islamic insurgent leader killed last year, Evan F. Kohlmann, counterterrorism analyst told the Post. "He ... [full story]

BAGHDAD -- Insurgents attacked British military bases and patrols in southern Iraq Friday, a British militart spokesman said. The spokesman said all British bases and positions around Basra were attacked with artillery shells and rockets and that a military patrol had been attacked with a bomb, rockets and automatic gunfire, the Kuwait News Agency, KUNA, reported. The spokesman did not say whether anyone had been killed in the attacks. Also Friday, four explosions rocked the ... [full story]

JAFFA, Israel -- An explosion on a truck carrying beer barrels killed one person and injured six others in Jaffa, Israel, Friday. Authorities say the truck crashed into a building but it is not certain if the blast occurred before or after the crash, The Jerusalem Post reported. Security forces found no traces of explosives at the scene. Authorities believe a leaky gas canister caused the explosion that completely destroyed the truck and damaged a ... [full story]

BEIRUT, Lebanon -- Security forces in Lebanon have arrested a top operative of the Fatah Al-Islam militia, bringing the total number of militia members in custody to 28. Identified only as Waleed B., the new captive is said to be the head of the unit responsible for killing Lebanese soldiers six weeks ago in Qalmoun, south of Tripoli, KUNA, the Kuwait news agency, reported Friday. The director of Lebanon's internal security forces, Major General Ashraf ... [full story]