MTV blankets Live 8 concerts

MTV and its sister networks around the world will go live for extended periods on July 2 to cover the Live 8 concerts.

In the United States, MTV, VH1 and college network mtvU will air a shared live feed from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. July 2 to cover the shows in London, Philadelphia, Paris, Berlin, Johannesburg and elsewhere. Live 8, put together by Live Aid organizer Sir Bob Geldof, is aimed at raising awareness of global poverty and calling for action at the July 6-9 G-8 summit.

Among the artists scheduled to perform are U2, Destiny’s Child, Dave Matthews Band, Paul McCartney, Madonna, Keith Urban, Green Day, Puff Daddy, Stevie Wonder and a reunited Sex Pistols and Pink Floyd.

Texas

Judge halts rape trial of Air Force officer

A military judge on Friday halted the rape trial of an officer accused of assaulting his Air Force Academy classmate after the accuser’s civilian rape counselor refused to hand over records of their conversations.

The officer, 1st Lt. Joseph Harding, will still stand trial on a separate charge of committing indecent assault against another cadet, said the judge, Col. David Brash, who did not elaborate on his ruling.

Brash’s ruling came in response to a defense motion to stop the trial. Harding’s attorneys had argued that access to rape counselor Jennifer Bier’s records is necessary for a fair trial.

Joseph Madonia, a lawyer for alleged victim Jennifer Brakey, called the ruling “a travesty” and said it was “a dark day in the two-year fight to see justice done instead of mere lip service by the Air Force that they’re concerned about the problem of rape.”

Chicago

Two men charged in hate crime

A man with ties to white supremacist Matt Hale has been charged with attacking two teenagers after they told him they were lesbians, prosecutors said Friday.

Patrick Langballe, 29, of Winnetka, Ill., was charged along with Aaron Rush, 20, of Green Bay, Wis., with a hate crime, armed robbery, aggravated battery and unlawful use of a weapon in the June 16 attack against the teens, ages 17 and 18, at Illinois Beach State Park near Zion.

The men were arrested Thursday near Gurnee by Lake County sheriff’s investigators. In a court hearing Friday, bail was set at $1 million for Langballe and $1.5 million for Rush, prosecutors said. The men were being held in Lake County Jail.

They are scheduled to again appear in court July 18.

In last week’s attack, the girls, who are from the Milwaukee area, told investigators they met Langballe and Rush near a bus stop in Milwaukee. They had mutual friends and decided to camp at the park with friends of the men, Chancey said.

Vermont

State sees 1st death penalty in 50 years

A man accused of abducting a supermarket employee and bludgeoning her to death as she prayed for her life was convicted on federal charges Friday in the first death penalty case in Vermont in nearly 50 years.

The jury will begin hearing evidence next week in the penalty phase of the case and decide if Donald Fell should be executed.

Fell, 25, was accused of joining another man in carjacking Terry King from a Rutland supermarket in 2000, taking her across the state line to New York, and killing her. The other defendant, Robert Lee, hanged himself in prison in 2001.