WASHINGTON

Senate appears close to vote on attorney general

More than six months after her nomination to become U.S. attorney general, federal prosecutor Loretta Lynch may finally get a confirmation vote this week in the Senate.

After weeks of a standoff between Democrats and Republicans over a controversial anti-abortion provision in the otherwise bipartisan bill, both sides say they are close to an agreement. That would pave the way for a vote to confirm Lynch, which, if successful, would make her the first African-American woman to become the nation’s chief law enforcement officer.

TULSA, Okla.

County sheriff says deputy’s training records not falsified

The Tulsa County sheriff said Monday he doesn’t believe training records were falsified for a volunteer deputy who said he confused his handgun for his stun gun before fatally shooting a man this month.

Sheriff Stanley Glanz said the volunteer – his longtime insurance agent, 73-year-old Robert Bates – was properly trained. But the sheriff stopped short of saying Bates was qualified to use the gun he used when he killed Eric Harris earlier this month.

Bates is charged with second-degree manslaughter in the death of Eric Harris, who was shot after running from officers during a sting investigation in a gun-selling case.

SAN FRANCISCO

Woman files death lawsuit against Southwest Airlines

A woman filed a wrongful-death lawsuit Monday against Southwest Airlines, claiming crew members mistook her husband’s medical emergency for unruly behavior aboard a California flight and didn’t assist him.

Richard Ilczyszyn, 46, was found unconscious after the flight from Oakland to Orange County landed last year, and he died the next day at a hospital, according to the lawsuit filed in Alameda County Superior Court by his wife, Kelly Ilczyszyn, herself a Southwest Airlines flight attendant. He had suffered a blood clot. Ilczyszyn ran to the bathroom about 10 minutes before the September 2014 flight was set to land, according to the lawsuit, which also names his three kids as plaintiffs. The suit seeks unspecified damages.

Crew members heard him crying out in pain, opened the bathroom door, but then closed it again and treated the incident as a passenger disruption, the suit says.

DES MOINES, Iowa

Virus fears could force deaths of 5.3 million hens

Up to 5.3 million hens at an Iowa farm must be destroyed after the highly infectious and deadly bird flu virus was confirmed, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Monday.

The farm in northwest Iowa’s Osceola County has nearly 10 percent of the state’s egg-laying hens. Iowa is home to roughly 59 million hens that lay nearly one in every five eggs consumed in the country.

TEHRAN, Iran

Washington Post reporter faces espionage charges

A Washington Post reporter jailed for nearly nine months in Iran faces charges of espionage and three other crimes, his lawyer revealed Monday following her first in-depth meeting with the journalist.

The Post, citing a statement from defense lawyer Leila Ahsan, said Jason Rezaian also faces charges of “conducting propaganda against the establishment,” “collaborating with hostile governments” and “collecting information about internal and foreign policy and providing them to individuals with malicious intent.”

In an interview with The Associated Press, Ahsan described the journalist as being in good spirits and health.

– From news service reports