Women held captive in Ohio endured lonely, dark lives; kidnap suspect due in court Thursday

CLEVELAND (AP) — Three women found alive after a decade in captivity endured lonely, dark lives inside a dingy home where they were raped and allowed outside only a handful of times in disguises while walking to a garage steps away, investigators say.

The 52-year-old former school bus driver accused of kidnapping and raping the women will make his first public appearance in court Thursday after emerging as the lone suspect.

While many questions remain about how Ariel Castro maintained such tight control over the women for so many years before one of them made a daring escape Monday, the horrors they suffered are beginning to come to light.

Police say the women were apparently bound by ropes and chains at times and were kept in different rooms. They suffered prolonged sexual and psychological abuse and had miscarriages, according to a city official briefed on the case.

Castro has been charged with four counts of kidnapping — covering the captives and the daughter born to one of them — and three counts of rape, against all three women.

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Arias trial now turns to whether she should live or die for killing lover in 2008

PHOENIX (AP) — The jury has rendered its verdict — Jodi Arias is guilty of first-degree murder — but the trial is far from finished.

The same jury now returns to the courtroom Thursday to decide whether she deserves to die for killing her one-time boyfriend on June 4, 2008 at his suburban Phoenix home.

The sheer brutality of the attack and previous testimony from the Maricopa County Medical Examiner that Travis Alexander did not die a quick death will be at the heart of the prosecution's argument that Jodi should receive the ultimate punishment for her crime.

Alexander was stabbed and slashed nearly 30 times, shot in the forehead and had slit his throat from ear to ear, leaving the motivational speaker and businessman nearly decapitated. His decomposing body was found in his shower about five days later by friends.

Arias spoke out about the verdict minutes after her conviction Wednesday, telling a TV station that she would "prefer to die sooner than later."

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Top Boston cop to tell Congress he's OK with more cameras, not 'police state,' after bombings

WASHINGTON (AP) — Boston's police commissioner told lawmakers conducting the first congressional hearing on the Marathon bombings that government should tighten security around celebratory public events and consider using more undercover officers, special police units and technology, including surveillance cameras — but only in ways that don't run afoul of civil liberties.

"I do not endorse actions that move Boston and our nation into a police state mentality, with surveillance cameras attached to every light pole in the city," Commissioner Edward Davis said in prepared remarks for the House Homeland Security Committee. "We do not and cannot live in a protective enclosure because of the actions of extremists who seek to disrupt our way of life."

Investigators used surveillance video from a restaurant near one of the explosions to help identify Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who died in a police shootout, and his younger brother, Dzhokhar, who survived, as the bombing suspects.

"Images from cameras do not lie. They do not forget," Davis said. "They can be viewed by a jury as evidence of what occurred. These efforts are not intended to chill or stifle free speech, but rather to protect the integrity and freedom of that speech and to protect the rights of victims and suspects alike."

The Associated Press obtained a copy of Davis' remarks.

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New fire in Bangladesh garment factory kills 8 as death toll from building collapse hits 930

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — A fire in an 11-story garment factory in Bangladesh killed eight people, including a ruling party politician and a top official in the country's powerful clothing manufacturers' trade group, as the death toll from the collapse of another garment factory building passed 900 on Thursday.

The fire Wednesday night engulfed the lower floors of the Tung Hai Sweater Ltd. factory — which had closed for the day — said Mamun Mahmud, deputy director of the fire service. The blaze, fed by huge piles of acrylic products used to make sweaters, produced immense amounts of smoke, he said.

The victims died of suffocation as they ran down the stairs, Mahmud said.

"Apparently they tried to flee the building through the stairwell in fear that the fire had engulfed the whole building," he said.

Had they stayed on the upper floors they would likely have survived the slow spreading fire, he said.

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For many Republicans in Congress, immigration makes for dangerous politics at home

FALLS CITY, Neb. (AP) — Rodney Vandenberg was the first to greet Republican Sen. Deb Fischer when she dropped by the Falls City's Chamber of Commerce office last week. He wasted no time bracing her about immigration, an issue that a Senate committee takes up Thursday in the form of sweeping overhaul legislation.

"There can be no shortcuts to citizenship for anyone," the retired banker and former mayor said, gripping Fischer's hand with both of his.

"My views have not changed," she replied, assuring him of her opposition.

That's what Vandenberg wanted to hear, but it's an ominous message for Republican leaders who believe that making the party dominant nationally hinges on accepting a more welcoming immigration policy, one that would attract more Hispanic voters. A bill that would make it easier for people living in the country illegally to obtain legal status is being debated by a Senate committee.

Key Republicans are supporting the idea, including Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Rand Paul of Kentucky, likely 2016 presidential candidates, and Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the party's vice presidential nominee in 2012.

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AP Exclusive: Lawmakers granted Calif. health exchange unusual secrecy in contracting records

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A California law that created an agency to oversee national health care reforms granted it sweeping authority to conceal spending on the contractors that will perform most of its functions, creating a barrier from public disclosure that stands out nationwide.

The degree of secrecy afforded Covered California appears unique among states attempting to establish their own health insurance exchanges under President Barack Obama's signature health law.

An Associated Press review of the 16 other states that have opted for state-run marketplaces shows the California agency was given powers that are the most restrictive in what information is required to be made public.

In Massachusetts, the state that served as the model for Obama's health overhaul, its Health Connector program is specifically covered by open-records laws, rather than providing exemptions from them, as is the case for contracting in California.

In Idaho, where its exchange was established as a private, nonprofit corporation, and in New Mexico, agencies specifically must comply with open-records laws. The Maryland Legislature subjected its exchange to the state's public information act, but protected some types of commercial and financial information.

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Wearable robots that help paralyzed people walk are getting lighter and more portable

CHICAGO (AP) — When Michael Gore stands, it's a triumph of science and engineering. Eleven years ago, Gore was paralyzed from the waist down in a workplace accident, yet he rises from his wheelchair to his full 6-foot-2-inches and walks across the room with help from a lightweight wearable robot.

The technology has many nicknames. Besides "wearable robot," the inventions also are called "electronic legs" or "powered exoskeletons." This version, called Indego, is among several competing products being used and tested in U.S. rehab hospitals that hold promise not only for people such as Gore with spinal injuries, but also those recovering from strokes or afflicted with multiple sclerosis and cerebral palsy.

Still at least a year away from the market, the 27-pound Indego is the lightest of the powered exoskeletons. It snaps together from pieces that fit into a backpack. The goal is for the user to be able to carry it on a wheelchair, put it together, strap it on and walk independently. None of the products, including the Indego, are yet approved by federal regulators for personal use, meaning they must be used under the supervision of a physical therapist.

Gore, 42, of Whiteville, N.C., demonstrated the device this week at the American Spinal Injury Association meeting in Chicago, successfully negotiating a noisy, crowded hallway of medical professionals and people with spinal injuries in wheelchairs.

When he leans forward, the device takes a first step. When he tilts from side to side, it walks. When Gore wants to stop, he leans back and the robotic leg braces come to a halt. Gore uses forearm crutches for balance. A battery in the hip piece powers the motors in the robotic legs.

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GOP sees huge trouble for Clinton in Benghazi affair, but Democrats say claims are crumbling

WASHINGTON (AP) — Politicians love few things better than a scandal to trip up their opponents, and Republicans hope last year's fatal attack on U.S. diplomats in Libya will do exactly that to Hillary Rodham Clinton and other Democrats.

History suggests it might be a tough lift. The issue is complex, the next presidential election is more than three years away, and a number of reports and officials have disputed criticisms of Clinton's role when she was secretary of state.

Still, Republicans and conservative talk hosts are hammering away at Clinton's and the Obama administration's handling of the 8-month-old tragedy. A daylong House Oversight Committee hearing Wednesday starred three State Department officials invited by Republicans. Security was poorly handled in Benghazi, Libya, they said, and administration officials later tried to obscure what happened.

But the three men offered little that has not been aired in previous congressional hearings. Afterward, Republicans all but acknowledged they're still seeking a knockout punch.

"This hearing is now over, but this investigation is not," said Darrell Issa of California, the hard-charging Republican chairman of the House committee. He urged "whistle-blowers" and "witnesses who have been afraid to come forward" to step up and "tell us your story, and we will make sure it gets public."

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For families of missing children, Cleveland rescue feeds hopes — and pain

CLEVELAND (AP) — The miraculous rescue of three missing women has given hope to many families whose loved ones have vanished. Yet hope, when searching for a long-lost child, can be a dangerous thing.

Thousands of children are missing across the country. The longer they are gone, the smaller the chances they will be found alive. So when three women who had been missing for a decade or more emerged from the house where they had been held captive, it provided an extraordinarily rare happy ending.

"I would definitely say it was a miracle," said Kelly Murphy, who founded Project Jason after her own son vanished to help other such families.

Murphy had worked with two of the Cleveland families while their daughters were missing. After they were found, she heard from many others who are still searching.

"The general response is that it gives us all hope," Murphy said. "I'm in the situation too, with my son almost missing for 12 years without a trace and without clues. It definitely gives us hope that there is a chance. If it happened to those girls, it can happen to us."

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Heat roll to a Game 2 win, evening series with Bulls as tensions and emotions flare

MIAMI (AP) — Carlos Boozer said the Chicago Bulls were feeling cheated. Mario Chalmers said the Miami Heat thought they were getting too many cheap shots.

Tensions and emotions are now nearly as high as the stakes.

In other words, this Bulls-Heat series is just getting started.

Ray Allen scored 21 points in less than 19 minutes off the bench, LeBron James scored all 19 of his points in the first half and the Heat led by as many as 46 on the way to a wild, whistle-filled 115-78 win over the Bulls in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference semifinal matchup on Wednesday night. The series is tied at a game apiece and shifts to Chicago for Game 3 on Friday night.

"We did a pretty good job of just staying the course," James said. "We just came in with a mindset to be aggressive and play our game. With everything that was going on, we just tried to keep our composure."