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Lawyers for a man charged with lying to investigators after the Boston Marathon bombings are asking a federal judge to release him from jail, saying he had nothing to do with the deadly bombings and isn't a flight risk. Robel Phillipos, 19, of Cambridge, faces a detention hearing Monday in U.S. District Court. Defense attorneys said in court documents filed Saturday that authorities' claim that Phillipos gave them conflicting accounts is "refutable."  Abcnews.go.com "This case is about a frightened and confused 19 year old who was subjected to intense questioning and interrogation, without the benefit of counsel, and in the context of one of the worst attacks against the nation," lawyers Derege Demissie and Susan Church wrote. "The weight of the federal government under such circumstances can have a devastatingly crushing effect on the ability of an adolescent to withstand the enormous pressure and respond rationally." Phillipos was charged las

Aided by calmer winds and cooler temperatures, fire crews began gaining control Saturday of a fast-moving blaze that scorched large swaths of rugged mountain terrain and forced mass evacuations in Ventura County. By late afternoon the so-called Springs fire, having engulfed about 28,000 acres since its Thursday start, was 56% percent contained and all mandatory evacuation orders were lifted. Though the blaze has damaged 15 homes and five commercial buildings, no residences have been destroyed and no injuries have been reported, officials said. Latimes.com Compared to Thursday and Friday — when fire raced through Ventura County hillsides, causing officials to call for the evacuation of about 5,000 residents — Saturday was relatively calm for firefighters and residents in the most heavily threatened areas, neighborhoods full of multimillion-dollar ranch homes near Thousand Oaks and Camarillo. By late afternoon, as the air kept cooling, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protectio

Only a few days after an alleged Israeli strike, Syrian media reports Israeli rocket fire targeted a military research center; Western intel sources confirm Syrian reports, say targets were Iranian Fateh-110 surface-to-surface missiles. Haaretz.com Western intelligence sources confirmed on Sunday morning that both the overnight strike and Friday's alleged attack on Syria targeted an Iranian missile shipment intended for Hezbollah. The sources said the target was a shipment of Fateh-110 missiles. The Fateh-110 is a medium-range advanced guided missile capable of hitting targets at a range of up to 300 kilometers. Israel did not officially respond to the reports. Large explosions rocked Damascus early Sunday morning, only a few days after an Israeli strike allegedly hit the country, Syrian state TV reported. The Assad regime's news service blamed Israel for the rocket strike, which targeted a military research center on Mount Qassioun, north of Damascus. On Saturday morning, ano

Two bodies at crash site where a U.S. plane went down Friday in Afghanistan were discovered, Reuters reports May 4. The exact location of the wreckage was in Kyrgyzstan where a cargo plane exploded while in mid-air. The fuel it was carrying ignited the explosion, investigators said. Remains of two people on-board the flight were found Saturday, but there were three known to be on the plane. An investigation will be conducted to learn why the plane crashed, but Kuyan Mamakeev -- state prosecutor of Kyrgyz -- said the explosion could have been related to a number of factors with the fuel, engine, and weather conditions. Kuvan Mamakeev, the Kyrgyz state prosecutor responsible for investigating transport crimes and accidents. 70 tons of fuel were aboard the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker that left a U.S. military transit center from Kyrgyzstan Manas airport. via www.Examiner.com

When the military doctors force-feed Guantánamo Bay detainee Fayiz al-Kandari with a tube shoved into his stomach there are three stages to the pain. First, there is the sensation of the tube passing near his sinuses as it is pushed through his nose and into his throat, which causes his eyes to water. Then there is an intense burning and gagging sensation as it goes down the throat. Finally, when the tube enters the stomach there is a strong urge to vomit. The experience, described by al-Kandari to his lawyer Carlos Warner, has one final grim humiliation. Once the tube has delivered food inside him, it triggers the most painful moment of all: the return of feeling hungry. "He says that can be the worst thing," Warner said. Al-Kandari is one of at least 100 men on hunger strike at America's controversial terrorist prison camp, isolated on the island of Cuba. Of that number, whose two-month starvation protest has created headlines around the world, 21 are being force-fed t

Five people in Saudi Arabia have died from a Sars-like virus and two more are seriously ill, officials say. The seven cases were all from al-Ahsa governorate in the east of the country, the Saudi news agency SPA said citing health officials. The novel coronavirus (NCoV) causes pneumonia and sometimes kidney failure. It is from the same family of viruses as the one that caused an outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars) that emerged in Asia in 2003. WHO notification In the statement released by SPA, the Saudi health ministry said it was taking "all precautionary measures for persons who have been in contact with the infected people... and has taken samples from them to examine if they are infected". However, the ministry gave no details on how many people had been tested for the disease. In a statement, the World Health Organization said the cases were not from the same family and preliminary inquiries showed "no indication of recent travel or animal contact&q

The so-called “Nazi Bride” goes on trial Monday over her alleged role in the killings of nearly a dozen people as well as bombings and numerous bank robberies in Germany, NBC News reported May 4. Beate Zschaepe is dubbed the “Nazi Bride” because she is apparently the sole surviving member of the National Socialist Underground, a neo-Nazi terror cell accused of a seven-year racist killing spree. Zschaepe is accused of complicity in the murder of eight ethnic Turks, a Greek and a policewoman, two bombings and 15 bank robberies. But a German federal prosecutor argues that the “Nazi Bride” actually had a much more active role in the killings and crime spree — that she wasn’t merely a sidekick. Two other alleged accomplices have taken their own lives. They and Zschaepe have been described as a “unified killing commando” that was responsible for a series of execution-style murders. Women have been playing a more prominent role in Germany’s neo-Nazi scene and have gained influen