Lawmakers debate bullet capacity — While influential lawmakers in both parties view a proposed ban on assault weapons as politically toxic, lawmakers seem increasingly open to a ban on high-capacity magazines, like the 15- and 30-round devices that have been used in shooting rampages from Aurora, Colo., to Newtown, Conn. A growing number of lawmakers say they see a distinct difference between limits on magazine sizes, which they would support, and an assault weapons ban, which they would not.
GOP senator won’t run again — Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb., who is in his first term, announced Monday that he will not seek re-election next year, the fifth lawmaker to bow out of a Senate that has become increasingly polarized and dysfunctional. Johanns, a soft-spoken former Nebraska governor and secretary of agriculture in the George W. Bush administration, appeared well positioned to be re-elected.
Cruise mishap cause — A U.S. Coast Guard official said Monday that the fire that disabled the Carnival Triumph cruise ship began when a fuel line connected to one of the vessel’s engines sprang a leak. “It sprayed oil onto a hot surface and caught on fire," the official, Lt. Cmdr. Teresa Hatfield, said at a news conference. The leak occurred in a flexible part of a return line, she said, rather than a line that was feeding fuel to the engine.
Russian lawmaker’s body found — The body of a missing city legislator and construction tycoon has been found in a private basement garage on the outskirts of Moscow, inside a rusted metal barrel filled with cement, the police said Monday. Russian television showed investigators removing the body of the man, Mikhail Pakhomov, 36, on Sunday evening from the garage, 20 miles east of Moscow, where the police said he had been tortured and killed over an outstanding $80 million loan.
Israeli outcry over ice cream — His foreign minister had to resign after being accused of fraud. He was sharply criticized for his government’s handling of Prisoner X, who committed suicide in prison. And now this, which made front-page news in Israel this weekend: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stands accused of dipping into state coffers for an ice cream budget of $2,700 a year. In a country facing severe cuts in government spending, news of the prime minister’s weakness for artisanal pistachio ice cream raised a national outcry.
Russia questions adoptee death — Russian authorities have blamed “inhuman treatment" for the death of a 3-year-old boy adopted by an American family, but Texas officials say they are still investigating claims that the child was abused before his death. Russia’s Investigative Committee said Monday that it had questions about the death of an adoptee authorities identified as Maxim Kuzmin.
Hip implant failure — Hip replacements are slightly more likely to fail in women than in men, according to one of the largest studies of its kind in U.S. patients. The risk of the implants failing is low, but women were 29 percent more likely than men to need a repeat surgery within the first three years.
North Korea sanctions — The European Union imposed trade and economic sanctions on North Korea while condemning “in the strongest terms" the nation’s latest nuclear test. The 27 EU finance ministers also demanded North Korea abstain from further tests and urged it to sign the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty without delay. The statement came as the ministers met Monday in Brussels.
— From wire reports
