Nation IN BRIEF : FLORIDA : Noriega Prosecutors to Drop One Charge

Prosecutors will drop the weakest of 12 charges in the drug-trafficking indictment against Manuel A. Noriega, a spokeswoman said. The action would not reduce the maximum 145-year prison term Noriega faces if convicted on the remaining 11 counts, said U.S. attorney’s office spokeswoman Diane Cossin in Miami. Cossin would not say why prosecutors decided to drop the charge. The trial is to begin Thursday. She said the count to be dropped involved travel violations by a Panamanian pilot who was reportedly paid for his work as a U.S. government informant.