LaNUBlog™

Two convicted murderers who used forged documents to trick their way out of prison in Florida have been recaptured, US officials say. Joseph Jenkins and Charles Walker, both 34, were seized without incident at a motel in Panama City, Florida. The men, who were serving life sentences, had been freed from separate jails after officials were fooled by fake papers reducing their terms. The prison authorities have pledged to tighten up their early-release policy. 'Red flags' missed The two convicts were arrested at the Coconut Grove Motor Inn on Saturday evening, the authorities said. They were detained hours after relatives held a news conference urging them to turn themselves in. Jenkins had walked out on 27 September and registered as felon three days later at a jail in Orange County, Florida, about 300 miles (480km) from the prison where he was serving his sentence. Walker had been set free on 8 October from the same prison and registered on 11 October. The falsified do...

Nine Lebanese Shia pilgrims held hostage in Syria have been freed, Lebanon's interior minster has said. The pilgrims have crossed over into southern Turkey, and will arrive back in Lebanon soon, according to Interior Minister Marwan Charbel. The nine were part of a group of 11 who were seized while making their way back to Lebanon in May 2012 after a tour of holy sites in Iran. Two of the group were subsequently released. The pilgrims' release had been reported by Lebanese officials three days after they were seized, but it then transpired that they had not left Syria. Jubilation "The story is over," Mr Charbel told the Reuters news agency. "In the next 24 hours, they will be with us [in Lebanon]." The Qatari foreign minister told the al-Jazeera television network on Friday that the pilgrims' release had now come about due to Qatari mediation. The news was greeted with jubilation in southern Beirut, where relatives of some of those kidnapped live...