Germany: Soldier gets life term for drowning children

A judge sentenced a U.S. soldier to life in prison Friday for drowning her two children in the bathtub in what prosecutors said was an act of revenge against her husband.

Spc. Lillie Morgan, 22, tearfully acknowledged her guilt before the sentence was read, saying of her children, “The fact is, they are gone and I am the cause.”

She was convicted Thursday of premeditated murder in the Sept. 18 drowning of her children, Joshua, 3, and Jazmin, 2 months, at a military housing complex at Hanau.

The defense argued she had been mentally disturbed at the time, presenting experts and other witnesses who said she suffered from schizophrenia.

Morgan, an Army finance clerk from Marksville, La., will be eligible for parole in 20 years. She will serve her sentence at a Navy prison in Miramar, Calif.

Berlin: Hair-coloring allegation haunts Schroeder

Does he or doesn’t he?

Whether German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder dyes his dark-brown hair may be something only his hairdresser knows for sure, but it’s now a question the whole country is talking about.

His lawyer appeared in court Friday to seek an injunction against a news agency to prevent it from repeating a political image-maker’s observation that the 58-year-old Schroeder “would be more credible if he didn’t dye his hair.”

Armed with an affidavit from Schroeder’s barber that the chancellor’s chestnut locks are natural, lawyer Michael Nesselhauf told journalists outside the Hamburg state court that the false charge amounts to defamation.

The court will rule on Schroeder’s claim May 17.

Yugoslavia: U.N. pulls most staff out of northern Kosovo

The U.N. mission in Kosovo has pulled most of its civilian employees out of ethnic Serb-dominated areas in the province because of a recent escalation of violence, an official said Friday.

Serb staff working for the U.N. mission and 20 international staff members did not go to work in offices in four northern towns Friday Leposavic, Zubin Potok, Zvecan and the Serb-dominated part of Kosovska Mitrovica.

On Monday, 22 U.N. officers and 12 Serbs were injured in riots. The clash occurred after U.N. police tried to set up a checkpoint in the Serb area. That move triggered riots by Serb hardliners.

U.N. police arrested a Serb, Slavoljub Jovic, on suspicion he had led the attacks. Angry Serbs have since staged protests for four days demanding his release.