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fore he fatally shot girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp through a closed toilet door in his home.
• Pistorius has said he killed Steenkamp by accident after mistaking her for an intruder in the early hours of Feb. 14, 2013. He faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted of premeditated murder.
• Prosecutor Gerrie Nel examined the details of the alarm system at Pistorius' house, questioning why the athlete would believe an intruder had broken into his home when he had extensive security measures, including interior and exterior sensors. Pistorius said he activated the sensors on the home alarm system before going to sleep on the night he killed Steenkamp, but feared that building contractors doing work on his house may have moved some of the security beacons.
• The prosecutor said Pistorius had not mentioned immediately after the shooting that he had fears that building contractors had removed some of the security beacons, specifically near the bathroom window where he allegedly thought an intruder may have gained access on the night he killed Steenkamp.
• Querying why Pistorius had not mentioned those fears earlier, Nel said Pistorius was trying to build a story to explain his fears of an intruder and therefore a mistaken shooting.
• ___

• WASHINGTON (AP) -- A day after hailing the Civil Rights Act as a lasting legacy of Lyndon B. Johnson's presidency, President Barack Obama is using another civil rights forum to issue an election-year warning against erosion of the Voting Rights Act, the landmark 1965 law that helped pave Obama's path in politics.
• On Friday, Obama was to address Al Sharpton's National Action Network conference in New York where, the White House says, the president will take issue with Republican measures in some states that make it more difficult for Americans to vote.
• Obama's speech at the annual conference sponsored by the civil rights activist and television talk host is part of the administration's effort to mobilize voters and push back against state voting restrictions prompted by last year's Supreme Court invalidation of a key provision of the Voting Rights Act.
• For the remainder of the year, no political issue stands out more prominently for Democrats than their ability to motivate voters to turn out at the polls in November.

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