Late Briefing

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Lawsuits by ex-prisoners dismissed

A federal judge has dismissed more than 100 habeas corpus lawsuits filed by former Guantanamo Bay prisoners, ruling that because the George W. Bush and Obama administrations had transferred them elsewhere, the courts need not decide whether the Pentagon had held them illegally.

The ruling dismayed attorneys for some of the detainees who had hoped for favorable court findings to help clear their clients of the stigma, travel restrictions and, in some instances, perhaps more jail time that resulted from their stay at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

U.S. District Judge Thomas F. Hogan wrote that he was “not unsympathetic” to the former detainees’ plight but that their transfer made their cases moot.

Hogan’s ruling, issued Thursday but not widely publicized, closed the files on 105 habeas corpus petitions, many of which had been pending for years.

The former detainees could appeal.

-- mcclatchy newspapers TEXAS

Abortion foe held after threat

A Plano man faces charges after he filed documents in federal court threatening to use deadly force to stop an abortion if the U.S. Supreme Court didn’t immediately act to outlaw the practice, federal officials said.

Erlyndon Joseph “Joey” Lo, 27, filed documents Friday saying his religious beliefs entitled him to use deadly force to prevent an abortion. He listed the name of a clinic, its address and the time he was going to show up -- noon that day.

“I plan on saving at least one human life in Dallas, Texas,” Lo wrote.

FBI spokesman Mark White said he was unsure whether Lo went to the facility at that time, but agents worked with Dallas police “to make sure there wasn’t going to be an issue at the clinic.” Lo was arrested Saturday.

-- associated press SOUTH CAROLINA

Zoo attack kills newborn baboon

Officials at a South Carolina zoo say a newborn baboon died after being attacked by its father in front of nearly 50 people who had gathered after the baby’s birth just minutes earlier.

Riverbanks Zoo officials said the birth and attack happened while the animals were within public view.

Zoo staffers knew about the impending birth and were observing when the male picked up the infant and threw it. Mammal curator John Davis said about 50 people had gathered after the birth and saw the attack.

The infant was immediately removed from the exhibit and died at the veterinary hospital.

Davis said male baboons in the wild sometimes kill the infant offspring of rivals, but the zoo has only one male.

-- associated press

SWEDEN

Fight ‘fatso’ gene with exercise

One hour of moderate to vigorous exercise a day can help teens beat the effects of a common obesity-related gene with the nickname “fatso,” according to a new European study.

The message for adolescents is to get moving, said lead author Jonatan Ruiz of the Karolinska Institute in Sweden.

“Be active in your way,” Ruiz said. “Activities such as playing sports are just fine and enough.”

The study appears in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

-- associated press MASSACHUSETTS

Heavy rains part of warming trend

The Northeast is seeing more frequent “extreme precipitation events” in line with global warming predictions, a study shows, including storms like the recent fierce rains whose floodwaters swallowed neighborhoods and businesses across New England.

The study does not link last week’s floods to its research but examined 60 years’ worth of National Weather Service rainfall records in nine states.

-- associated press