Here's what's happening across the United States and around the world today.
Big storms predicted for US mid-section
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Forecasters are warning that there could be "some big storms" today and Thursday in the middle of the country.
The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma says the Southern Plains could get large hail, damaging winds and a number of tornadoes today.
Then tomorrow, the focus shifts to the mid-Mississippi River Valley, including virtually all of Illinois.
Emergency officials say a tornado touched down briefly last night in southeastern Kansas.
Request to lift hold of Obama immigration action denied
HOUSTON (AP) — There's been no comment yet from the White House after a federal judge in Texas refused to lift a temporary hold on President Barack Obama's executive action that spares some 5 million people in the U.S. illegally from being deported.
Twenty-six states, including Texas, had filed a lawsuit to overturn the executive action, arguing that it's unconstitutional and would force them to invest more in law enforcement, health care and education.
White SC officer charged with murder in black man's shooting
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina police officer has been charged with murder after officials viewed a video that appears to show the white officer shooting a black motorist in the back several times.
The video, taken by a witness, shows 50-year-old Walter Scott running away and then dropping to the ground as he's repeatedly shot.
Scott is then handcuffed. Authorities say North Charleston Patrolman Michael Slager had stopped Scott because one of his car's brake lights was out.
2 black candidates elected to Ferguson City Council
FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) — Two black candidates are among three people elected Tuesday to the Ferguson, Missouri, City Council.
The St. Louis suburb has been at the center of a national debate about how police interact with minority residents since the August shooting of an unarmed, black 18-year-old by a white officer.
Just one council member was black even though the majority of residents are black.
Emanuel facing huge challenges in 2nd term as Chicago mayor
CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is pledging to take a new approach to a big spike in pension costs, ongoing gang violence and negotiating with unions that spent millions trying to defeat him.
Emanuel won a second term Tuesday over Cook County Commissioner Jesus 'Chuy' (HAY'-soos CHOO'-ee) Garcia. Though he led by about 11 points with nearly all precincts reporting, the victory came only after Emanuel failed to win a majority in a first-round February contest. That forced Chicago's first mayoral runoff.
Emanuel told voters he understands Chicago's challenges will require him to lead "in a different fashion."
The mayor must work with the Chicago Teachers Union and other unions to address a more than $20 billion pension crisis. He also must negotiate a new contract with the teachers union, which backed Garcia.
Jurors to deliberate for 2nd day in Boston Marathon trial
BOSTON (AP) — Jurors in the trial of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (joh-HAHR' tsahr-NEYE'-ehv) are set to resume deliberations for a second day in the first phase of his death penalty trial.
The jury of seven women and five men began deliberations Tuesday on 30 federal charges against Tsarnaev. They'll return to U.S. District Court today.
During the trial, Tsarnaev's lawyer admitted Tsarnaev participated in the deadly 2013 attack, but said his older brother was the mastermind.
If Tsaranev is convicted, the same jury will hear more evidence in a second phase of the trial to decide whether the 21-year-old is sentenced to death or life in prison.
Three people were killed and more than 260 were injured when twin pressure-cooker bombs exploded near the marathon's finish line on April 15, 2013.
Fate of ex-NFLer Aaron Hernandez now in hands of jury
FALL RIVER, Mass. (AP) — The fate of former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez is now in the hands of the jury, which is returning for its first full day of deliberations in his murder trial.
Hernandez is charged with the June 2013 killing of Odin (OH'-dihn) Lloyd, who was dating his fiancée's sister.
Jurors deliberated for about 90 minutes Tuesday after hearing closing arguments. They return today.
Hernandez's lawyer, James Sultan, acknowledged for the first time during closing arguments that Hernandez was there when Lloyd was killed. But he described him as a witness, a 23-year-old kid who did not know what to do. Sultan pinned the killing on two of Hernandez's friends.
Prosecutors say Hernandez planned the crime, drove Lloyd to a secluded area, killed him, and then tried to cover it up.
US speeding weapons deliveries to Saudi-led Yemen coalition
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — A senior American diplomat says the U.S. is committed to defending Saudi Arabia and has sped up the delivery of weapons to the Saudi-led coalition launching airstrikes in Yemen.
Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters in the Saudi capital of Riyadh that Washington also has increased its intelligence sharing and has set up a joint coordination and planning cell in the Saudi operations center overseeing the campaign.
He made the comments Tuesday after meeting with senior Saudi royals and Yemen's President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who fled his country due to Houthi rebel advances and is seeking refuge in Saudi Arabia for the time-being.
Blinken says the U.S. and the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council must coordinate closely and press all parties to seek a consensus political solution.
Ex-Gitmo detainee held in Uganda over killing of prosecutor
KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Ugandan authorities have arrested a Ugandan who once was detained at Guantanamo Bay on suspicion of playing a role in the killing last month of a local prosecutor who handled terror cases.
Ugandan police spokesman Fred Enanga told The Associated Press that Jamal Kiyemba was arrested with three others as they held a meeting in a Kampala suburb on Tuesday.
Enanga said the arrests were made with the help of U.S. officials who helped to track down Kiyemba.
Kiyemba is a convert to Islam who once lived in the U.K. before he traveled to Pakistan, where he was arrested as a terror suspect and was later detained at Guantanamo Bay, Enanga said, citing a profile of Kiyemba supplied by American officials.
Israeli military: Palestinian stabs 2 in West Bank attack
JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military says a Palestinian stabbed two Israelis outside a West Bank settlement before being shot dead.
This morning's attack took place near the settlement of Shilo. One Israeli was in serious condition and the other was lightly hurt. It was not immediately clear who shot the attacker.
Israel saw a wave of similar attacks in the West Bank and Jerusalem toward the end of last year, but the violence has mostly subsided and the current Passover holiday has been relatively quiet thus far.
Palestinians demand the West Bank, which Israel captured from Jordan in the 1967 war, as part of their future state and object to an Israeli presence there. Militants often target soldiers and Jewish settlers.
DA seeking life sentence in mother's salt-poisoning of son
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) — Prosecutors are seeking the maximum sentence for a woman convicted of killing her 5-year-old son by poisoning him with salt.
Lacey Spears of Scottsville, Kentucky, was found guilty last month of second-degree murder in the death of Garnett-Paul Spears at a suburban New York hospital.
The 27-year-old Spears was found guilty of force-feeding heavy concentrations of sodium through the boy's stomach tube.
At today's sentencing, the maximum that can be imposed is 25 years to life. The minimum is 15 to life.
Defense attorneys said the evidence did not prove murder. They have promised an appeal of the conviction.
Spears did not testify at the trial.
Guam rejects lesbian couple's marriage license application
HAGATNA, Guam (AP) — Guam is rejecting a marriage license application from the first-same sex couple to apply for the document in the U.S. territory.
A Guam Department of Public Health and Social Services clerk today refused to accept an application filed by Loretta Pangelinan and Kathleen Aguero.
Department Director James Gillan says under Guam law, a marriage license is only issued to a couple of the opposite sex.
Pangelinan and Aguero have been in a relationship for more than nine years. Their attorney R. Todd Thompson says they plan to take their case to federal court.
Of the five U.S. Pacific and Caribbean territories, only Puerto Rico has faced a lawsuit seeking marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples.
Lawmaker urges action to prevent carbon monoxide tragedies
PRINCESS ANNE, Md. (AP) — Utility regulators and police are trying to determine what could have been done to prevent the deaths of a man and his seven children who died of carbon monoxide poisoning from a generator installed after their home's power had been disconnected.
Officials from Maryland's public utility regulator say they are looking into what happened, while Princess Anne police have subpoenaed the power company to document exactly what steps it took and when.
Maryland regulations allow utilities to terminate service without notice if they find a safety hazard or a customer tampers with equipment.
Blue Bell expands recall of ice cream made at Oklahoma plant
BRENHAM, Texas (AP) — Blue Bell Creameries says it's expanding its recall of products made at an Oklahoma plant after pints of banana pudding ice cream tested positive for listeriosis.
The Texas-based dairy company announced in a statement Tuesday that no illnesses linked to those pints have been confirmed. The recall now includes the banana pudding ice cream pints and other products manufactured on the same line in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. The products were distributed to retail outlets across the nation.
The company last month issued the recall after ice cream contaminated with listeriosis was linked to three deaths at a Kansas hospital. The foodborne illness was tracked to a production line in Brenham, Texas, and later to a second line in Oklahoma.
The company suspended operations Friday at the Oklahoma plant.
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