Nation briefs 7/28/2015

Man accused of fatal church-camp slayings

URBANA, Md. -- An apparently homeless Virginia man fatally stabbed a South Korean missionary and seriously wounded his wife at a Maryland church retreat center, authorities said Monday. Song Su Kim, 30, of Falls Church, Virginia, was charged in Frederick County, Maryland, with first- and second-degree murder, first- and second-degree attempted murder and two counts of assault. Deputies responded Sunday night to a 911 call reporting the stabbing at the Anna Prayer Mountain Church Retreat Center, a Christian complex near the rural community of Urbana, said Sheriff Chuck Jenkins. Charging documents identified the victims as Chung Hwan Park, 63, and his wife Ae Suk Ko, 58. Jenkins said the victims were missionaries from South Korea.

Prosecutor forms panel for Bland case

HEMPSTEAD, Texas -- A committee of outside attorneys will assist the Texas district attorney investigating the death of Sandra Bland, the black woman who was found dead in her jail cell three days after a traffic stop by a white state trooper. The attorneys will have full access to all evidence in the Bland case and the authority to subpoena witnesses, according to two members of the committee, attorneys Darrell Jordan of Houston and Lewis White of Sugar Land, a Houston suburb. The committee will make recommendations on possible criminal charges to Waller County District Attorney Elton Mathis, White said. If Mathis disagrees with them, the lawyers on the panel will have the authority to present their findings to the grand jury reviewing Bland's death, he said.

Immigrants coerced into ankle monitors

SAN ANTONIO -- Lawyers say immigrant mothers held in a South Texas detention center with their children have been pressured into accepting ankle-monitoring bracelets as a condition of release, even after judges made clear paying bonds would suffice. In a letter to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement director Sarah Saldana, leaders of a pro-bono lawyers' project raised concerns women were being misled about their rights before being released. A court decision last week found holding children to be unlawful, and families are being released from immigrant detention centers faster. ICE spokeswoman Gillian Christensen said the agency would review the claims and "respond directly" to the lawyers.

FDA bans imports of some cilantro

WASHINGTON -- The Food and Drug Administration is banning imports of some fresh cilantro from Puebla, Mexico, after an investigation found human feces and toilet paper in fields there. The FDA announced the partial ban Monday after cilantro imported from the state of Puebla was linked to 2013 and 2014 outbreaks of stomach illnesses in the United States. U.S. and Mexican health authorities investigated farms and packing houses in Puebla and found some of the farms had no running water or toilet facilities. The ban will affect certain shipments of fresh cilantro from Puebla through August, corresponding to the timing of the outbreaks. The ban will continue unless the company can prove its product is safe.

-- From wire reports