World/Nation Briefs May 25, 2012

Arrest made in missing boy case from 1979

NEW YORK - A former convenience store worker confessed to luring 6-year-old Etan Patz from his school bus stop in 1979 and choking him to death in a basement, police said Thursday, ending a three-decades long investigation into one of the nation's most baffling missing-children cases.

Pedro Hernandez, 51, of Maple Shade, N.J., was arrested on a murder charge after he told police he promised the boy a soda, took him to his store - just blocks from Etan's lower Manhattan home - and killed him there, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said.

Hernandez told police he put Etan's body in some trash about a block from the store, Kelly said, where it's possible it was picked up by sanitation crews.

No body has been recovered, and Kelly said it's possible the remains would never be found.

Hernandez was questioned by police for more than three hours after he was picked up in New Jersey Wednesday, and gave police a signed confession, Kelly said. His motive was not yet clear.

Obama visits again; Iowa seen as swing state

DES MOINES, Iowa - President Barack Obama delivered his harshest rebuttal yet to rival Mitt Romney on Thursday, dismissing his challenger's claims as "a cowpie of distortions" while seeking to rekindle the all-but-faded Iowa magic that launched him in 2008. Escalating his criticism of Romney's background as a venture capitalist, Obama said it wasn't adequate preparation for the presidency.

"There may be value for that kind of experience, but it's not in the White House," Obama said.

The speech, to a cheering Iowa crowd of about 2,500 at the Iowa State Fairgrounds, represented a new intensity for Obama's campaign as Romney begins to hit his stride carrying the Republican standard. It came as Iowa, soured by the direction of the nation and its economy, has drifted away from Obama since his 2008 caucus victory over Hillary Rodham Clinton made him the Democratic front-runner.

While Obama carried the state in the general election by a comfortable margin that year, polls this year have shown voters narrowly preferring Romney, who plans to wage his own major effort in Iowa.

Trying to cast Romney as out of touch with working-class voters, Obama declared that hard work hasn't led to higher incomes. "Higher profits haven't led to better jobs," he said. "And you can't solve that problem if you can't even see that it's a problem."

Brotherhood claims lead in Egyptian election

CAIRO - The Muslim Brotherhood quickly staked a claim for its candidate to advance to a runoff vote, saying its exit polls showed him leading in Egypt's landmark presidential election to succeed ousted leader Hosni Mubarak.

As vote-counting began Thursday, exit polls by several Arab television stations also suggested the Brotherhood's Mohammed Morsi was ahead of the pack of 13 candidates. The reliability of the various exit surveys was not known, and a few hours after the end of two days of voting, only a tiny percentage of the ballots had been counted.

But the swiftness of the Brotherhood's claim showed its eagerness to plant its flag and establish in the public eye that Morsi had at least won entry into a second round vote. There are five prominent candidates, but none is expected to win outright in the first round. A run-off between the two leading contenders would be held June 16-17.

GSA parts ways with pricey party executive

WASHINGTON - The General Services Administration executive who was responsible for a lavish, $823,000 conference in Las Vegas is no longer with the GSA, the agency confirmed Thursday.

GSA spokesman Adam Elkington would not say whether Jeffrey Neely resigned or was fired from the agency that is in charge of federal buildings and supplies.

Neely had been placed on administrative leave in April as buildings commissioner for the Pacific Rim region. An inspector general's report on waste and abuse at the 2010 Las Vegas conference sparked hearings by several congressional committees. Neely angered lawmakers by refusing to testify and asserting his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent.

Private supply spaceship has asuccessful test

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The world's first private supply ship flew tantalizingly close to the International Space Station on Thursday, acing a critical test in advance of the actual docking.

The unmanned SpaceX Dragon capsule flew within 1? miles of the orbiting lab as it performed a practice lap and checkout of its communication and navigation systems.

Officials at NASA and the SpaceX company declared the rendezvous a success and said the historic linkup is on track for today.

- The Associated Press