In brief: Man admits to serial killings

A New Jersey man pleaded guilty to murdering five teenagers in 1978 in what was one of the state's longest-running unsolved cases.

Philander Hampton, of Jersey City,New York, told police three years ago that he and a cousin, Lee Evans, lured the teens to an abandoned house in Newark with the promise of odd jobs, then locked them inside and set the house on fire. The attack allegedly was prompted by stolen drugs.

Melvin Pittman, Ernest Taylor, Alvin Turner, Randy Johnson and Michael McDowell were last seen on a busy street near a park where they had played basketball on Aug. 20, 1978. Evans is scheduled to go to trial this autumn.

Monks jailed over torching

A Chinese court has sentenced two more Tibetan Buddhist monks to up to 13 years in prison over the death of a 16-year-old colleague who set himself on fire.

The two plotted, instigated and assisted in the actions of fellow monk Rigzin Phuntsog and caused his death, the court in Sichuan province found.

The death was seen as a protest against China's heavy-handed controls on Tibetan Buddhism and provoked a standoff between security forces and monks.

OAP survives shears horror

An 86-year-old gardener fell face-first into his pruning shears, sending one of the handles through his right eye socket and halfway into his head.

Leroy Luetscher, of Arizona, managed to put his T-shirt over the wound to stanch the bleeding and walk to his house to beckon his live-in girlfriend, who called for an ambulance.

Doctors were able to save his eye and he has made a remarkable recovery.

Chilean miners retire early

Chile's government has granted early retirement requested by nearly half of the 33 miners who survived 69 days trapped 2,300ft (700m) underground last year.

The 14 miners, who have cited either physical or psychological reasons for needing to stop working, will receive about £331 (¤373) in pension a month.