Watchdog slams Netanyahu:

JERUSALEM — Israel’s official government watchdog released a lengthy report Tuesday into Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s travel expenses before he took office, raising a “fear of criminality” over an alleged double-billing scheme. The state comptroller’s report found that some of Netanyahu's foreign trips when he was finance minister between 2003 and 2005 were funded by private donors, creating the impression of bribery and conflict of interests.

Protesters injure police chief:

BRUSSELS — The Brussels police chief was injured Tuesday during clashes at the end of a major anti-austerity demonstration attended by around 50,000 people in the center of the Belgian capital. Police chief Pierre Vandersmissen was treated for a head injury after he was hit with a stone in the back by a red-clad man and fell to the ground during rock throwing by a few dozen protesters after most of the marchers had already disbanded.

French auction raises ire:

WASHINGTON — Native American leaders are protesting the latest plan by a Paris auction house to sell off part of their tribal history, and their demand for the return of their ceremonial objects is getting bipartisan support. Hundreds of religious items and art pieces from the Americas, Africa and Asia are scheduled to go up for bidding Monday at Paris’ EVE auction house, including a Plains war shirt made with hair from human scalps and sacred Hopi objects that resemble masks and are considered to be living beings by the tribe.

Guilty in celebrity hacking:

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania man Ryan Collins, 36, pleaded guilty Tuesday to hacking into the email and online accounts of several female celebrities and stealing private information, including nude photos and videos. He was accused of gaining access to more than 100 Google and Apple accounts from November 2012 to September 2014.

Alabama speaker on trial:

OPELIKA, Ala. — Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard went on trial Tuesday on felony ethics charges that could result in his removal from office, with a prosecutor telling jurors the powerful Republican legislator illegally made $2.3 million off his state position and GOP chairmanship despite promising to clean up corruption in the Statehouse.

Hate crime law protects cops:

BATON ROUGE, La. — Louisiana is poised to become the first state in the nation to expand its hate-crime laws to protect police, firefighters and emergency medical crews — a move that could stir the national debate over the relationship between law enforcement and minorities. The new law would allow prosecutors to seek greater penalties against anyone convicted of intentionally targeting first responders because of their profession. Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat whose grandfather, father and brother have served as sheriffs, is expected to sign the bill into law this week.

Some prisoners wait too long:

WASHINGTON — Staff error resulted in 152 federal inmates being freed after their correct release dates between 2009 and 2014, including three who spent more than an extra year behind bars, according to a report released Tuesday by the Justice Department watchdog. The inspector general report counted a total of 4,340 Bureau of Prisons inmates who received “untimely” releases during those years.

Feds to seek death penalty:

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department intends to seek the death penalty against Dylann Roof, the man charged with killing nine black parishioners last year in a church in Charleston, South Carolina, Attorney General Loretta Lynch said Tuesday.

Bill to regulate toxic chemicals:

WASHINGTON — The House on Tuesday easily approved a bipartisan bill that would for the first time regulate tens of thousands of toxic chemicals in everyday products from household cleaners to clothing and furniture.

Police find victims’ bodies:

EVERETT, Wash. — Authorities said Tuesday they have found bodies believed to be a Washington woman and man who have been missing for six weeks and presumed killed. Tony Clyde Reed, one of two brothers charged with the slayings of Monique Patenaude and her husband, Patrick Shunn, provided information that led detectives to pinpoint the remote location near the couple’s home.

Tuesday afternoon, Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Shari Ireton said at a news conference.

Authorities had been searching for the couple since they were reported missing April 12.

“We are waiting for medical examiner confirmation but we have reason to believe that they are Patrick Shunn and Monique Patenaude,” Ireton said.

The bodies were found buried in an area where the couple’s vehicles were found by authorities weeks ago, about 50 miles northeast of Seattle near the town of Oso.

Ireton said authorities had searched in that area several times but getting specific information about where they were buried was what helped them make the discovery.

Reed appeared in Snohomish County Superior Court earlier Tuesday afternoon and entered not guilty pleas to two counts of first-degree murder and unlawful firearm possession in the case.

He turned himself in last week at the U.S.-Mexico border after a monthlong manhunt.

His attorney, James Kirkham, helped arrange the surrender. Kirkham told The Daily Herald in Everett, Washington, on Monday that his client turned himself in to answer the allegations against him.

“My client is innocent of the first-degree murder charges,” the lawyer said. “He’s here to defend himself.”

Authorities are still searching for Reed’s 53-year-old brother, John Blaine Reed.

John Reed and the couple were former neighbors. Authorities have said Reed, Patenaude, 46, and Shunn, 45, had been involved in a property dispute.

Ireton said Tony Reed has been cooperating with detectives.

Information from: The Daily Herald, http://www.heraldnet.com

Prosecutor: ‘Shield’ actor taunted wife before killing her

LOS ANGELES (AP) — An actor who played a police officer on TV was upset because his wife wanted a divorce and taunted her before fatally shooting her in their Los Angeles home while their two young sons watched, a prosecutor told jurors Tuesday.

Deputy District Attorney Tannaz Mokayef made the accusations against Michael Jace during her opening statement at his murder trial. Jace played a police officer on the FX series “The Shield.”

Defense attorney Jamon Hicks acknowledged that his client had killed his wife and said the defense team would try to explain the actor’s mindset when it happened.

“This case is not about who did it. We acknowledge it. We accept responsibility,” Hicks said in his opening statement. “This case is not about how it was done. We acknowledge it. We accept responsibility. This case is about why it was done.”

Mokayef said Jace had been drinking and told his wife April Jace in a text message that he had left their home but was actually waiting for her with a loaded revolver.

When she arrived, the prosecutor said, Michael Jace shot her in the back before firing two more rounds into her legs within sight of their sons — 8 and 5 at the time.

April Jace was an avid runner and Mokayef said the actor shot her in the legs because he wanted her to feel pain.

The prosecutor said one of the boys will testify that he heard his father tell his mother, “’You like to run so much. Why don’t you try running to heaven?’”

Mokayef also provided new details about the 2014 killing, including a 911 call in which the actor calmly told a dispatcher, “I shot my wife.”

The recording was later played in court and Jace is heard saying, “My intent was not to kill her.”

Jace also gave instructions on how officers should enter the home so they could find the gun and not think he was still armed, and he told detectives that he shot his wife in the back after she lunged at him, the prosecutor said.

Mokayef said the evidence will prove Jace planned the killing because he believed his wife was having an affair and wanted a divorce. He spent much of April Jace’s last day texting her, trying to guess who she was sleeping with.

“You will hear that on May 19, 2014, the defendant took a loaded gun, a revolver, and waited for his wife to come home and then shot her in the back and then shot her two more times in front of their kids,” Mokayef told the jury of six men and six women.

The prosecutor called it a “really sad story of obsession and control.”

Jace worked steadily in small roles in films such as “Planet of the Apes,” ‘’Boogie Nights,” ‘’Forrest Gump” and the television series “Southland.”

Anthony McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP