Briefly

Louisiana: Police pursue lead in serial killings

Police investigating the murders of four women said Tuesday they are seeking a man who was seen in the vicinity where the last victim was found.

“We are not 100 percent sure this is the person, but this is the person we would definitely like to talk to,” Lafayette Parish Sheriff Mike Neustrom said.

The man was described as white and 30 to 40 years old.

A witness who called a police tip line said a man fitting that description was sitting in a 1990s white pickup truck in the rural town of Scott on Nov. 21 — the day before Trineisha Dene Colomb, 23, was reported missing.

Colomb’s body was found nearby three days later.

Last July, authorities said a white pickup truck might be connected to the serial killings. The other victims lived in Baton Rouge, about an hour’s drive east of Lafayette.

Police have linked all four victims to one killer through DNA evidence left at the crime scenes.

Washington, D.C.: New drug approved for rheumatoid arthritis

The government has approved sale of a new drug for rheumatoid arthritis that works like two older competitors — but may prove easier to take.

Abbott Laboratories’ Humira works by blocking an immune system protein called tumor necrosis factor, or TNF, that is responsible for much of the pain and inflammation of rheumatoid arthritis.

It requires patients to give themselves one shot every two weeks.

Two other TNF blockers, Enbrel and Remicade, have long been sold. Enbrel requires two shots a week, and is so difficult to manufacture that it’s often in short supply. Remicade requires an infusion in a doctor’s office.

All three drugs have similar side effects, including serious, sometimes fatal, infections thought linked to the suppression of the immune protein.

Washington, D.C.: Requirements eased for ‘dolphin-safe’ labels

Tuna caught along with dolphins may be labeled “dolphin safe” if it can be certified that no dolphins were killed or seriously injured during the catch, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. The ruling opens the way for Mexico and Ecuador to ship tuna to the United States.

The decision to soften the requirements for using the “dolphin-safe” label brought immediate criticism from environmentalists who say current international safeguards are insufficient to ensure that tuna were caught without harm to dolphins.

The action by the department’s National Marine Fisheries Service came after the agency determined that while thousands of dolphins continue to be killed during tuna fishing, the losses pose no significant threat to the species.

The marine fisheries service said tuna caught by encircling dolphins may immediately be imported into the United States and bear the “dolphin-safe” label as long as observers aboard the fishing vessels certify that no dolphins were killed or seriously injured during the catch.

Massachusetts: Priest pleads guilty in child rape case

A Roman Catholic priest was sentenced to 12 to 15 years in prison Tuesday after pleading guilty to raping an altar boy in the 1980s and early ’90s.

The Rev. Ronald H. Paquin, 60, of Salem, was charged in May. He also has been named as a defendant in numerous lawsuits accusing him of molesting other boys.

In court, the victim told Paquin that the priest had robbed him of his innocence.