Clash resumes in contested Afghan, Pakistan border area: officials

JALALABAD, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Afghan and Pakistan troops exchanged fire on Monday at a contested border area in eastern Afghanistan days after an Afghan border policeman was killed, Afghan officials said.

Two senior officials from Nangarhar province where the clash took place told Reuters that fighting resumed after Pakistani troops attempted to repair a gate damaged in the previous clash.

The clash on Thursday, in the border district of Goshta, drew nationwide condemnation in Afghanistan, and saw protests in the east and in the capital, Kabul.

(Reporting by Rafiq Sherzad; Editing by Robert Birsel)

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Los Angeles jury selection in Jackson case resumes

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The pool of potential Los Angeles jurors to hear a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Michael Jackson's mother has grown to 35.

The group has been given a 24-page questionnaire assessing their knowledge and opinions on Jackson, his family and concert giant AEG Live.

Katherine Jackson is suing AEG claiming the company failed to properly investigate the doctor convicted of involuntary manslaughter for her son's June 2009 death.

More than 180 potential jurors have been screened, but less than three dozen have enough time to serve on the trial, which may last three months.

Jury selection resumes Thursday afternoon.

AEG has denied wrongdoing and says it never hired former physician Conrad Murray to care for Jackson.

Jackson's family is seeking $40 billion, although jurors would have to determine any damages.

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Arias resumes testimony in Ariz. murder trial

PHOENIX (AP) — Jodi Arias resumed testimony Monday in her Arizona death penalty case as her defense attorneys work to undo any damage from her withering cross-examination last week during which she admitted to lying throughout the investigation in order to cover her tracks and avoid being caught.

"Were you forced to testify?" defense attorney Kirk Nurmi asked Arias.

"No," she said.

"When you chose to testify, did you so do with the idea that the lies you told would be called into question?" Nurmi prodded.

"Yes," Arias said.

Arias, 32, is charged in the June 2008 killing of her lover in his suburban Phoenix home. She says it was self-defense, but police say she planned the attack on Travis Alexander in a jealous rage. Arias initially told authorities she had nothing to do with Alexander's death, then blamed it on masked intruders before settling on self-defense.

Arias also was questioned repeatedly during cross-examination last week about the steps she took after she killed Alexander, all admittedly in an attempt to create an alibi. She dumped the gun in the desert, got rid of her bloody clothes, tried to clean the scene at Alexander's home and even left the victim a voicemail on his mobile phone within hours of killing him and dragging his body into the shower. She said she was too scared and ashamed to tell the truth.

Prosecutors are working to prove it was a premeditated killing that deserves a first-degree murder conviction in order to secure a chance at the death penalty.

"Did you go to Mr. Alexander's home on June 4 with the intent on killing him?" Nurmi asked Arias on Monday.

"No, I didn't," she said. "That was never a thought."

Arias' grandparents had reported a .25 caliber handgun stolen from their Northern California home about a week before the killing — the same caliber used to shoot Alexander in the head — but Arias says she never knew her grandfather had the weapon. Authorities believe she brought it with her, though she has testified she shot Alexander with his own gun as he chased her into his closet in a rage after body-slamming her and threatening to kill her.

"He was trying to kill me so I was defending myself," she said Monday.

Alexander had also been stabbed and slashed 27 times and had his throat slit. His body was found by friends about five days later.

Arias has testified that in the months leading up to his death, Alexander had grown physically abusive and beat her on numerous occasions. However, no witnesses have testified and jurors have heard nothing to indicate Alexander had ever shown violent behavior in the past, and there has been no proof admitted at trial that he ever owned a gun.

Arias even told authorities repeatedly after her arrest that he didn't own a gun. That story changed only after several years in jail when she admitted to the killing.

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Iraq resumes flights to Kuwait after 22-year halt

BAGHDAD (AP) — An Iraqi Airways flight landed in Kuwait on Wednesday for the first time since Saddam Hussein's 1990 invasion of the tiny emirate as the neighboring states try to repair more than two decades of strained relations.

Government ministers from both countries were on hand for the ceremonial landing at the international airport in Kuwait City shortly before noon.

Iraq's Transportation Ministry spokesman, Karim al-Nouri, said the flight will open "important horizons for cooperation based on brotherhood" with Kuwait. Passenger demand will determine the number of flights in the future, he said.

In January, Kuwait's parliament approved a deal under which Baghdad will pay $500 million in compensation to Kuwait's national carrier for damages caused during the Iraqi occupation. The accord seeks to end a long-running dispute over reparations for Kuwait Airways.

The disagreement had centered on Kuwait's accusations that Saddam's regime stole 10 airplanes and millions of dollars' worth of equipment and spare parts during the invasion. Kuwait earlier wanted $1.2 billion in reparations, which Iraq's postwar leaders resisted.

The chairman and managing director of Kuwait Airways Corp., Sami al-Nisf, said all outstanding issues between the Kuwaiti and Iraqi carriers have been completely and fully resolved, Kuwait's state news agency reported. He suggested that there could be interest in Kuwait resuming flights to Baghdad, but an aircraft shortage hinders those plans for now.

Although the airline dispute appears settled, there are other disputes over war reparations between the two nations.

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