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JERSEY CITY, N.J. Three New Jersey brothers have been charged with the Christmas Day beating death of their sister's husband.Hudson County prosecutor Edward DeFazio tells the Jersey Journal (http://bit.ly/sRlQOd ) newspaper the killing resulted from "an ongoing family dispute."DeFazio says 44-year-old Jeorge Alvendia was stomped and hit with a shovel in the garage of his Jersey City home.A criminal complaint says 44-year-old Elieser Paet beat Alvendia with a shovel while 37-year-old Francis Paet and 39-year-old Wilfred Paet kicked him.Authorities say Alvendia's wife wasn't home during the attack but arrived soon after.The brothers are from the Philippines. They were arrested and are being held on $500,000 cash bail. It's unclear if they have an attorney. No one answered the phone at an apartment believed to be theirs.___Information from: The Jersey Journal, http://www.nj.com/jjournal


FORT WAYNE, Ind. A babysitter and trusted neighbor has confessed that he bludgeoned a 9-year-old Indiana girl to death with a brick then dismembered her, hiding her head, hands and feet at his home and dumping the rest of her remains nearby, police said Tuesday.Allen County sheriff's investigators said in an affidavit that 39-year-old Michael Plumadore admits he killed Aliahna Lemmon on Thursday.According to the affidavit, Plumadore told police that after beating Aliahna to death, he stuffed her body into trash bags and hid her in the freezer at his home in a rundown trailer park in Fort Wayne. He said he later chopped up her body and stuffed her remains into freezer bags.Police said Plumadore told them he had hidden Aliahna's head, feet and hands at his trailer and discarded her other remains at a nearby business. Police obtained a warrant to search his trailer on Monday and found the body parts.The affidavit does not provide details about why Plumadore kill


o give his name for fear of reprisals.The resident and other eyewitnesses said most of the tanks were gone but police and security agents were spread out. "Snipers are all over Homs, this is something the observers don't see," the resident said.Homs-based activist Majd Amer said members of the Syrian opposition wished to reach the observers but didn't know how."They are hostages in the hands of the regime," Amer said of the monitors. "They are totally dependent on authorities to move around, make calls and even to get their food and drink," he added in frustration.In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner demanded Syrian authorities allow the monitors full access to the Syrian people."We expect that Arab League monitors will be able to deploy and move freely within Homs and other Syrian cities as protesters peacefully gather," Toner said Tuesday night. He suggested the international community "will consider other means to protect Syrian civilians" if


An Italian oil tanker was hijacked close to the coast of Oman early Tuesday morning in an area where Somali pirates are known to operate, AFP reported.The ship, which is owned by Marnavi, was reportedly carrying 18 people. The Italian navy was informed of the incident and the company has been in touch with the foreign ministry, the report said.There were six Italians, five Ukrainians and seven Indians onboard when the ship came under attack in the early hours of Tuesday morning.The ship was carrying a cargo of caustic soda to the Mediterranean.On Dec. 21, another Italian oil tanker was freed after being in pirate captivity for more than 10 months after a ransom was paid, the report said.Ransoms for tankers often reach into the millions of dollars. The long coastline of war-ravaged Somalia provides a perfect haven for pirate gangs preying on shipping off the East African coast.The Associated Press contributed to this report.


APDecember 27, 2011: Republican presidential candidate, Texas Gov. Rick Perry speaks during a campaign stop at the Glenn Miller Museum in Clarinda, Iowa.Texas Gov. Rick Perry's campaign announced Tuesday it will file a lawsuit in an attempt to get on the ballot for Virginia's Republican presidential primary.Perry failed to qualify for the ballot after the Republican Party of Virginia said his campaign had not filed the required 10,000 signatures."Virginia ballot access rules are among the most onerous and are particularly problematic in a multi-candidate election," Perry campaign communications director Ray Sullivan said in a statement published by National Journal."We believe that the Virginia provisions unconstitutionally restrict the rights of candidates and voters by severely restricting access to the ballot, and we hope to have those provisions overturned or modified to provide greater ballot access to Virginia voters and the candidates seeking to earn their


. Rick Perry also said Tuesday that voters don't have to pick a candidate who would allow Iran to wipe Israel off the earth -- a reference to Paul's opposition to intervention regarding Iran's nuclear program."You don't have to stand for that," Perry said."I have all the respect in the world for the front-runners," he added.The campaign trail tone toward Paul marks a turnaround from just a few weeks ago, when at an ABC News debate, Paul's opponents cited him as a positive example when asked to name something they had learned from the other candidates.Perry thanked Paul for bringing attention to problems with the Federal Reserve and monetary policy."Congressman Paul is the individual on the stage that got me most interested in a subject that I found to be quite interesting, and at the root of a lot of the problems that we have, and I thank you for that," Perry said at the time.Romney also praised Paul for his ability to generate a loyal following."He ignites