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District of Columbia

Trump picks aide to lead FDA

WASHINGTON -- Dr. Heidi Overton, a top White House aide, has been picked to lead the Food and Drug Administration, President Donald Trump announced Wednesday.

Overton is a medical doctor and deputy director of the White House Domestic Policy Council who has worked on several of Trump's second-term health initiatives.

Massachusetts

Psychologist testifies in Clancy trial

PLYMOUTH -- Lindsay Clancy didn't appreciate the "wrongfulness" of killing her three children because of her mental health issues, a psychologist testifying for the defense said at her murder trial Wednesday.

The testimony of Paul Zeizel is the strongest evidence yet to support the defense contentions that Clancy should not be held legally responsible for murder because she has bipolar disorder and was in the grip of postpartum psychosis when she killed her three children before trying to kill herself.

Missouri

Court allows new districts in election

JEFFERSON CITY -- A Missouri judge has allowed new U.S. House districts backed by President Donald Trump to be used in the November elections, rejecting a bid by to put the Republican-friendly districts to a statewide vote of the people.

The ruling Wednesday by Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green is a victory for Republicans seeking to hold onto their slim majority in the U.S. House. But the case is likely to end up in the state Supreme Court.

World

Netherlands

ICC condemns US sanctions on officials

THE HAGUE -- The International Criminal Court on Wednesday slammed the latest U.S. sanctions targeting senior ICC staff, including its president, as a "flagrant attack" on the global tribunal's independence.

The State Department announced Tuesday that it had hit ICC president Tomoko Akane, a Japanese national, and ICC senior trial lawyer Abdoulaye Seye, who is from Senegal, with sanctions that freeze any assets they have in U.S. jurisdictions or come into contact with the U.S. financial system.

Central African Republic

Death toll in mine collapse tops 100

BANGUI -- The death toll from a gold mine collapse in a western part of Central African Republic has risen to more than 100, a Red Cross volunteer and local official said Wednesday.

The low-tech, artisanal gold mine collapsed Tuesday morning in the village of Zamboye, in the Nana-Mambere prefecture, near the border with Cameroon.

Brazil

Top court expands women's protections

SAO PAULO -- Brazil's Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Wednesday to significantly expand the scope of the country's landmark law to protect women from violence.

Legislation that was for two decades applied to domestic incidents, as in many other nations including the United States, can now be triggered outdoors. Brazil's top court also decided that the attackers should be put on trial even if they have no family or sentimental connection to the victim.

Starting at /week.