Not guilty plea entered in killing of Hudson's kin
CHICAGO: Jennifer Hudson's brother-in-law pleaded not guilty yesterday to charges that he fatally shot the Oscar-winning actress' mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew. William Balfour, 27, entered not guilty pleas to first-degree murder and home invasion charges in a Cook County courtroom. Balfour is the estranged husband of Hudson's sister, Julia Hudson. He is charged in the deaths of the sisters' mother, Darnell Donerson, their brother, Jason Hudson, and Julia Hudson's son, Julian King. Prosecutors allege that Balfour shot the three in a jealous rage because he was upset Julia Hudson had been dating another man. The bodies of Donerson and Jason Hudson were discovered Oct. 24 at the family's South Side home. The boy's body was found three days later in an SUV on the city's West Side. Balfour's next court appearance is scheduled for Jan. 27.
Prosecutors seek stay on Guantanamo trials
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba: Guantanamo prosecutors are seeking to put the war crimes trials on hold while the future of the widely criticized tribunals remains in doubt, a military defense lawyer said yesterday. Under the proposal, the prosecutors would ask judges to stay pending cases while President Barack Obama's administration reviews the military commissions system and the legal alternatives for prosecuting suspected terrorists, said Navy Lt. Cmdr. Bill Kuebler, a military defense lawyer who represents a Canadian being tried before the tribunals. Kuebler said that the chief prosecutor for the military commissions discussed the plan earlier yesterday with the chief defense counsel but that the defense opposes the idea and thinks that, in any case, the judges would reject it. A Pentagon spokesman who was at Guantanamo, Navy Cmdr. Jeffrey Gordon, declined to comment.
1,500 Rwandan troops enter eastern Congo
NAIROBI, Kenya: More than 1,500 Rwandan troops crossed into Congo early yesterday as part of a joint military operation to crack down on rebel militias that have been destabilizing the central African nation for more than a decade. It marks the second time in a month that Congolese President Joseph Kabila has made a controversial decision to invite foreign troops onto his soil to help restore security in eastern Congo. The latest campaign appears to be targeting a Rwandan rebel army that also sought refuge in Congo's dense jungles. The Hutu militia, known as Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, or FDLR, is accused of seeking to overthrow Rwanda's Tutsi-led government. The Rwandan troops began making their way toward the town of Rutshuru, north of the regional capital of Goma, where they were expected to join Congolese troops with tanks and other heavy equipment, United Nations officials said.
