Romney forms 2012 exploratory committee

Washington: Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney made his presidential ambitions official Monday by forming an exploratory committee to run for president in 2012 and declaring in a video that "it is time that we put America back on a course of greatness." Romney, a top contender in the 2008 presidential campaign, has been content to remain largely quiet while other Republicans seek the media spotlight. At this stage, he tops most polls as the Republican front-runner, and his advisers saw little need to compete for the boost in name recognition that comes with an early declaration.

New remains might raise number of killer's victims to 10

Wantagh, N.Y.: Suspected human remains were found in two locations along a remote New York beach highway Monday, bringing to 10 the number of potential victims of a possible serial killer.

The discovery came as police expanded a search from Long Island's Suffolk County westward into the Jones Beach area of Nassau County, just over the border from New York City. The expanded search was prompted by Suffolk's discovery in the past two weeks of four sets of unidentified human remains; the bodies of four women who worked as Craigslist escorts were found in the same area in December, leading authorities to suspect they might be contending with a serial killer.

D.C. mayor arrested in protest

Washington: Mayor Vincent C. Gray was arrested for disorderly conduct Monday while protesting provisions of Friday night's budget deal in Congress, his spokeswoman said. Gray joined other city representatives and residents in a protest that blocked Constitution Avenue near the Hart Senate Office Building, said Linda Wharton-Boyd, his spokeswoman.

Demonstrators protested what residents and officials here say was a sacrifice of the city's interests in exchange for a budget deal. Democrats agreed to allow Republicans to revive a ban on the financing of abortions from local money and to impose a school voucher program that city officials say Washington does not need.

World

Small fire discovered at Japanese nuclear plant

Tokyo: Workers at Japan's tsunami-stricken nuclear power complex discovered a small fire near a reactor building Tuesday, but it was extinguished quickly, the plant's operator said. The setback came amid reports that Japanese nuclear regulators were raising the severity of the accident to the highest level, 7, on par with the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.

Tokyo Electric Power Co., which operates the disabled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, said the fire at a box that contains batteries in a building near the No. 4 reactor was discovered about 6:40 a.m. Tuesday and was put out within seven minutes. It wasn't clear whether the fire was related to a magnitude-6.3 earthquake that shook the Tokyo area Tuesday morning. The cause of the fire is being investigated.

The plant was damaged in a massive tsunami March 11 that knocked out cooling systems and backup diesel generators, leading to explosions at three reactors and a fire at a fourth that was undergoing regular maintenance and was empty of fuel.

Egyptian blogger gets 3 years in prison for criticizing military

Cairo: An Egyptian blogger was sentenced Monday to three years in prison for criticizing the military in what human rights advocates called one of the more alarming violations of freedom of expression since a popular uprising led to the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak two months ago.

The blogger, Maikel Nabil, 25, had assailed the Egyptian armed forces for what he called its continuation of the corruption and anti-democratic practices of Mubarak. Nabil often quoted from reports by established human rights groups.

Adel Ramadan, one of his lawyers, said a military tribunal had sentenced Nabil to serve his term in Tora Prison here. His lawyers and his family were barred from communicating with Nabil after the sentencing. The charges included insulting the military establishment and spreading false information about the armed forces.

Herald-leader wire services

This story was originally published April 12, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Romney forms 2012 exploratory committee."