French Seek Probe of Suspect's Brother

Facebook on Thursday removed a page that paid homage to the young Frenchman who died in a shootout with police after killing seven people, officials said.French interior ministry officials said the ministry had asked the social networking site to remove the page that went up shortly after Mohamed Merah was killed earlier Thursday in Toulouse.The page, which bore a picture of the self-proclaimed Al-Qaeda militant and was titled "Homage to Mohamed Merah", was consulted by more than 500 people before it was removed just hours after it appeared, they said.

BOSTON — A friend of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has been released from federal custody while he awaits trial for allegedly lying to federal investigators probing the April 15 bombings. Robel Phillipos was charged last week and faces up to eight years in prison if convicted. The 19-year-old was a student at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth with Tsarnaev. Prosecutors initially asked that Phillipos be held while he awaits trial, arguing that he poses a serious flight risk.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will use a trip to Moscow this week to discuss cooperation in the investigation of the Boston bombings as well as future intelligence-sharing, according to two State Department officials who briefed reporters today in Washington.

Total SA and Chief Executive Officer Christophe de Margerie will fight charges stemming from the United Nations oil-for-food Iraq relief program scandal at a trial in Paris. The program, meant to ease conditions in Iraq after sanctions imposed for its 1990 invasion of Kuwait, was used by Iraqi officials to evade UN limits. At issue in the French trial starting today is whether the defendants, including 18 people and two companies, aided the Iraqis activities and to what degree.

NEW YORK — Peter Madoff will serve 10 years in prison for his role in his older brother’s multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme, a U.S. judge said on Thursday. Peter Madoff, 67, pleaded guilty in June to criminal charges including conspiracy to commit securities fraud for falsifying the books and records of the investment advisory company founded by his brother, Bernard Madoff. I am deeply ashamed of my conduct. I accept full responsibility for my actions

SEATTLE — Dennis and Judith Schulte had just arrived in Seattle from the Midwest, a move they made to be near their newborn grandson. They were killed Monday when a suspected drunken driver allegedly slammed into them as they crossed a street during a walk with their grandson and his mother. The crash left the other two family members in critical condition Tuesday. “They were so elated. This is their only grandchild,” said Judith Schulte’s sister, Susan Morton.

TORONTO—A Tunisian the FBI says “radicalized” VIA Rail terror suspect Chiheb Esseghaier has been charged with terrorism-related offences in New York following an undercover investigation. Ahmed Abassi, a former resident of Canada, was arrested in New York on April 22 at the same time the RCMP picked up Mr. Esseghaier and his co-accused Raed Jaser but the case had remained sealed until Thursday.

The older brother of Olympic sprinter and murder suspect Oscar Pistorius has today confirmed he is himself facing a culpable homicide trial.