Briefly

Court: D.C.'s handgun ban unconstitutional

WASHINGTON -- A federal appeals court overturned the District of Columbia's long-standing handgun ban Friday, rejecting the city's argument that the Second Amendment right to bear arms applied only to militias. In a 2-1 decision, the judges held that the activities protected by the Second Amendment "are not limited to militia service, nor is an individual's enjoyment of the right contingent" on enrollment in a militia.

U.S. begins secret hearings at Gitmo

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- A series of secret hearings have begun at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to determine whether 14 alleged terrorist leaders at the prison should be declared "enemy combatants" who can be held indefinitely and prosecuted by military tribunals. The 14 detainees, including an alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, were moved in September from a secret CIA prison network to the prison at Guantanamo Bay.

Bluffton teen dies a week after Ga. bus crash

ATLANTA -- A college baseball player pulled from the wreckage of his team's charter bus died of his injuries Friday, raising the death toll from last week's crash to seven. Zach Arend, 18, had been in critical condition since the accident March 2. Arend's grandmother, Ann Miller, had said the Ohio teenager had suffered chest and abdominal injuries, a fractured pelvis and collapsed lungs. Four Bluffton University players, the bus driver and the driver's wife were killed when the bus plowed off an overpass in Atlanta. More than two dozen others aboard were injured.

-- From wire reports