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• Pistorius is charged with one count of premediated murder over the Feb. 14 killing of Reeva Steenkamp. He says the shooting was accidental because he thought she was a dangerous intruder inside his home.
• Steenkamp's Valentine's Day killing has seized the world's attention and there was intense focus Friday on if Pistorius would be released, and if so, with what conditions.
• Pistorius' hands trembled as he said "good morning, your worship" as the court session began in Pretoria Magistrate's Court, in South Africa's capital.
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Egypt's Islamist president calls parliamentary elections in April amid turmoil, impasse
• CAIRO (AP) -- Egypt's Islamist president has called parliamentary elections for April in an effort to assuage mounting frustration over continued turmoil on the streets and a political impasse that has gripped the nation.
• A decree by President Mohammed Morsi issued late Thursday set the start of a staggered, four-stage voting process for April 27, with the last round to be held in June. The newly elected parliament would then convene for its first session on July 6, the decree said.
• Since the 2011 ouster of longtime authoritarian President Hosni Mubarak in a popular uprising that was part of the Arab Spring revolts, Egyptians have gone through a series of referendums, presidential and parliamentary elections. The first elected parliament was disbanded by a court order last June and Morsi, the nation's first freely elected president, assumed his post in July.
• Morsi and his highly organized Muslim Brotherhood, which was a banned opposition group under Mubarak, emerged from the uprising and the various elections as the country's dominant political group with the largest grass root support.
• But the divisions in Egypt have only grown, pitting the Brotherhood and their fundamentalist Islamists allies on one side and the mostly secular, liberal political parties and youth groups on the other.
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Cocky ex-cop Drew Peterson screams his innocence, gets 38 years in prison for wife's murder
• JOLIET, Ill. (AP) -- Drew Peterson showed nearly no emotion during his trial, yet the once famously jocular ex-Illinois police officer screamed out his innocence be (Continued on page 28)
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