More international news in brief

Cuba accepts negotiations with EU

HAVANA (AP):

Cuba's foreign minister on Thursday formally accepted a European Union (EU) invitation to begin talks on improving ties, and expressed concern over upheaval in key ally, Venezuela, and in Ukraine.

At a news conference in Havana, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said Cuba had notified the EU of its decision earlier in the day. He said diplomats will work with Brussels to determine the details and dates for negotiations.

"I think this correct decision by the EU demonstrates that unilateral policies do not work, nor do they have a place in our time," Rodriguez said.

Cuba-EU relations turned chilly in 1996 when the bloc adopted the so-called Common Position linking ties to human rights, political opening, and civil liberties on the island.

Judge overturns verdict against California lawyer

PHOENIX (AP):

A judge in Phoenix ordered a new trial for a California lawyer accused of killing his stepdaughter's husband, ruling that evidence did not support a jury's guilty verdict against the man.

Judge Karen Mullins of Maricopa County Superior Court issued the ruling Wednesday in the case of 54-year-old Robert Fischer of Irvine.

A jury in December convicted Fischer of second-degree murder in the 2010 shooting death of 49-year-old Norman 'Lee' Radder at his family's Queen Creek home.

Fischer was visiting his stepdaughter's family when Radder died of a single shot into his right eye after an evening of drinking, and authorities contended that Radder's death was staged as a suicide.

However, Mullins ruled there was no evidence that Fischer pulled the trigger.

Alabama House approves execution drug secrecy bill

MONTGOMERY (AP):

The Alabama House of Representatives has approved a bill to keep the manufacturers and suppliers of lethal-injection drugs confidential.

Representatives voted 77-19 for the bill Thursday. It now moves to the Senate.

The bill would prevent the state from having to disclose the names of drug providers during litigation over the death penalty.

Republican Lynn Greer of Rogersville said the prison system was having difficulty obtaining the drugs because suppliers are faced with harassment and litigation from death penalty opponents. Greer said the state should protect them.

Mexico arrests son of drug lord for extortion

MEXICO CITY (AP):

Mexican police said Thursday, they arrested a man who identified himself as the son of notorious drug lord Servando Gomez, the leader of the Knights Templar drug cartel.

The suspect, Luis Aguilera Esquivel, was arrested earlier this week on charges of kidnapping and carrying out an extortion scheme so brazen that he and another man forced the victim to write a promissory note for the protection money and accepted a cheque as an initial payment.

Carlos Castellanos, the public safety secretary of western Michoacan state, said the suspects were arrested Monday after they picked up the extortion payment.