Around the world
PERU: Susana Higuchi, who is challenging her husband for the presidency of Peru, has charged that high-tech fraud, including a computer virus, was being used to sabotage her campaign. A visibly upset Higuchi accused the National Intelligence Service on Monday night of being behind an orchestrated effort "to erase us from the electoral map." She said records of 147,000 names out of 192,000 people who signed her campaign petition were erased as a result of a blackout earlier in the month. Higuchi, who has been involved in a high-profile marital dispute with President Alberto Fujimori, moved out of the presidential palace in September and announced she would run for president.ROOS: Kangaroos need water. Cars need roads without kangaroos. A problem has developed in the Australian capital. Starting Tuesday, thirsty kangaroos invading Canberra's urban areas will be shot in order to reduce traffic hazards. Local city government approved the program after many accidents were reported as drivers swerved to avoid kangaroos. A severe drought in eastern Australia has driven the animals out of their usual haunts in parks and rural areas to search for food and water.
Across the nation
SENTENCE: A husband who admitted slaying his wife after catching her in bed with another man was sentenced to 18 months in prison by a judge in Towson, Md., who said such a killing was understandable. Sandra Peacock, 31, was killed Feb. 9 by a single shot to the head from a hunting rifle a few hours after her husband Kenneth Peacock, 36, arrived home unexpectedly during a winter storm, prosecutors said. The victim's lover escaped unharmed. In sentencing Peacock on Monday, Cir-cuit Judge Robert E. Cahill said he was reluctant to give him any prison time at all.
COURTHOUSE SHOOTING: A woman who allegedly slipped a gun to a prisoner in a Dallas courthouse garage was shot to death Tuesday during a shootout with a sheriff's deputy. The prisoner, a murder suspect, another inmate and the deputy were wounded at the George Allen Sr. Courts Building. The prisoner, given a gun by the woman, escaped but was caught just a block away, authorities said.