National news briefs

Kids die in fire; mom charged with murder

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Authorities in North Carolina say two toddlers left without adult supervision have died in a house fire, and their mother has been charged with murder.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department spokesman Bob Fey said in a news release that 26-year-old Orgal Opata was arrested Sunday afternoon. She also was charged with four counts of exposing a child to a fire.

In all, investigators say four children, ages 7, 4, 2 and 1, were in the house when the fire started early Sunday morning.

A neighbor was credited with getting the two older children.

RFK's grandson won't run for Congress

BOSTON (AP) — Joseph P. Kennedy III, the son of a former congressman and the grandson of Robert F. Kennedy, said Sunday he had decided against running for the U.S. House from Massachusetts this year.

Kennedy told The Associated Press that he wants to remain in his new job as a prosecutor in Cape Cod's Barnstable County. The 29-year-old Stanford University and Harvard Law graduate has held the post only for eight months.

Army probe shows no food poisoning plot

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — An Army probe into allegations of verbal threats involving a base's food supply has revealed that none of the five soldiers detained was involved in any plot to poison food at the base, a congressman said Sunday.

U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., said Sunday information he received as a member of the House Armed Services Committee showed there was no plot. The five Muslim soldiers who were connected to a translator training program had been detained in December while the Army investigated.

Ice breaks ceiling of atrium in N.Y.

NEW YORK (AP) — Ice broke through the ceiling of an atrium at the Sony Building in New York City, showering glass over partygoers who scurried to avoid it and leaving 10 with minor injuries, authorities and a witness said.

Ice left by last week's storms fell from the 32nd floor of the building on Madison Avenue in Manhattan late Saturday night, shattering two 3- by 5-foot glass panels in the lobby, said Buildings Department spokesman Tony Sclafani.