Nation briefs

Private charged with 'aiding enemy'

WASHINGTON - An Army private suspected of leaking hundreds ofthousands of sensitive and classified documents to the WikiLeaksanti-

secrecy group was charged Wednesday with aiding the enemy, acrime that can bring the death penalty or life in prison.

The Army filed 22 new charges against Pvt. 1st Class Bradley E.Manning, including causing intelligence information to be publishedon the Internet. The charges don't specify which documents, but thecharges involve the suspected distribution by the military analystof more than 250,000 confidential State Department cables as well asa raft of Iraq and Afghanistan war logs. Thousands of the documentshave been published on the Wiki-

Leaks website.

Although aiding the enemy is a capital offense under the UniformCode of Military Justice, Army prosecutors have notified the Manningdefense team that it will not recommend the death penalty to the two-star general who is in charge of proceeding with legal action.

AP: Gingrich to start testing run

ATLANTA - Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich will begin raisingmoney to test whether a bid for the GOP presidential nomination isfeasible, his spokesman told The Associated Press Wednesday night.

Gingrich is set to talk about the step at a news conferenceThursday at the state Capitol in his home state of Georgia where hehas a meeting with the governor. Rick Tyler told the AP thatGingrich "is entering the exploratory phase" of a presidentialcandidacy.

He is stopping short of setting up an exploratory committee,which would have made him a legal candidate.

House blast kills woman, grandson

SUFFIELD, Ohio - A home exploded into flames early Wednesday,killing a woman and her grandson and throwing them from the house ina blast that was heard miles away and left nothing at the site but alarge crater filled with debris.

Killed in the explosion were Regina Proudfoot, 63, and RobertCroft, 21, said Portage County Sheriff David Doak. No one else wasinjured.

Boy, 12, in custody after shootings

BURLINGTON, Colo. - A 12-year-old boy who reported shots fired athis eastern Colorado home was in custody Wednesday after officersarrived to find his parents dead and two of his siblings in criticalcondition.

When officers arrived, they found the bodies of 50-year-oldCharles Long and his wife, 51-year-old Marilyn Long.

The Associated Press