Virginia: 9-11 defendant gets backing in bid to defend himself

Prosecutors believe Zacarias Moussaoui is mentally fit to represent himself against charges of aiding the Sept. 11 attackers.

Moussaoui, the only man charged in the attacks, announced in an April court appearance that he wanted to fire his attorneys.

Prosecutors said in a written motion filed Friday that they agreed with a court-appointed psychiatrist that Moussaoui was competent to make the decision.

Moussaoui faces the death penalty if convicted. Jury selection is scheduled for the end of September.

U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema has scheduled a hearing for Thursday in Alexandria on Moussaoui’s request to represent himself.

New York: Buildings near trade center yield more human remains

Workers searching through debris in buildings adjacent to the World Trade Center site have found the remains of about a dozen people in the past week, city officials said Saturday.

The official recovery effort ended May 30 when the last debris from the World Trade Center was cleared, but some of the surrounding buildings had not been extensively searched.

Crews searching those buildings over the past week have found bone fragments, teeth and even parts of a plane’s luggage rack, The New York Times reported Saturday.

More than 2,800 people were killed when two hijacked planes were crashed into the World Trade Center towers on Sept. 11. The New York medical examiner has identified just over 1,100 victims from more than 19,500 body parts found in the wreckage.

Pennsylvania: War College graduates get pep talk from chief

Saying that America’s military needs “new and fresh ways of thinking,” Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told new graduates of the U.S. Army War College on Saturday that the force that acted more quickly in the war on terrorism would win.

“The nature of this threat, to me, demands that we be flexible and adaptable,” Myers said. “It will allow us to operate faster and, to me, that equals success.”

The 100-year-old college serves as a place where the military’s rising stars study strategic theory and national security. The college moved to the Carlisle Army Barracks, which dates to the 1700s, from Fort Leavenworth, Kan., 51 years ago.

Chicago: Civil rights leader’s trip to Middle East postponed

The Rev. Jesse Jackson said Saturday he had postponed a planned trip to the Middle East because of continuing violence there.

The civil rights leader, who had planned to lead a religious delegation to the region this week, said the bombings and retaliations between Israelis and Palestinians made it impossible to forge any peace agreement right now.

“The din of recent bombs and missiles … has dimmed hopes that our message of nonviolence, reconciliation and reconstruction can be heard,” Jackson said.