The news at a glance . . . United States

Raleigh, N.C.

Edwards admits paternity: After months of denials, former Democratic Sen. John Edwards admitted last week that he bore a daughter out of wedlock during his 2008 presidential run. Edwards had previously acknowledged an affair with campaign videographer Rielle Hunter after his wife, Elizabeth, was diagnosed with incurable breast cancer. But with the imminent release of a tell-all book by former aide Andrew Young, Edwards confessed to fathering Frances Quinn Hunter, born Feb. 27, 2008. Edwards, reported this week to have separated from his wife, has bought a house in Charlotte, N.C., for Hunter and their daughter. He said he has visited Frances Quinn over the past year, and his lawyer said he is providing financial support. Following his admission, Edwards flew to Haiti to assist with relief efforts.

Little Rock, Ark.

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Al Qaida claim: A man accused of murdering a U.S. soldier in Little Rock now says he has ties to al Qaida and has asked the judge to change his plea to guilty. Abdulhakim Muhammad, a Muslim convert from Memphis, had pleaded not guilty to shooting Pvt. William Long to death outside a recruiting station last June. But in a new letter to the court, Muhammad said he belongs to the al Qaida–affiliated group in Yemen led by Naser Abdel Karim al-Wahishi, and that his action was “justified according to Islamic Laws.” Muhammad’s attorney, Claiborne Ferguson, said that Muhammad had not consulted him, and that his client has offered many inconsistent stories. “I’m a little irritated,” Ferguson said.

Wixom, Mich.

No scriptural weapons: A Michigan defense contractor agreed last week to stop stamping its combat rifle sights with coded New Testament references, following Pentagon objections. Trijicon, the manufacturer, has been making the cryptic notations—2COR4:6 for Second Corinthians, Chapter 4, Verse 6, for example—for almost 30 years. They went largely unnoticed until military personnel began complaining recently that they violated rules against religious proselytizing and could be misinterpreted in Muslim countries like Iraq and Afghanistan as evidence of a “holy war” against Islam. Trijicon will provide the Pentagon with 100 free kits to remove the references from sights already in service.

Nashville

Tea Party chaos: The planned February convention of the fledgling Tea Party is coming undone as sponsors and participants pull out amid charges of profiteering. The event is billed as a gathering of grass-roots groups that arose around Tax Day last year to protest exorbitant federal spending and alleged abuse of government power. But the $549 ticket price, and Sarah Palin’s $100,000 speaking fee, has led some critics to label the affair a profit-making venture. “It’s hard for us not to assume the worst,” said Eric Odom, executive director of the American Liberty Alliance, which has withdrawn sponsorship. Judson Phillips, who is running the convention through his for-profit corporation Tea Party Nation, said he hopes merely to break even.

New York City

Religious misunderstanding: A Jewish airline passenger’s prayer paraphernalia was mistaken for a bomb last week, prompting a US Airways flight bound from New York City to Louisville to be diverted to Philadelphia. Caleb Liebowitz, 17, of White Plains, N.Y., was attaching two small black leather boxes to his arm and forehead with leather straps, part of a morning ritual known as putting on “tefillin.” A flight attendant thought the straps and boxes were a bomb and alerted the pilot, who diverted the plane to Philadelphia, where security personnel stormed the craft and handcuffed Liebowitz. He was released after several minutes of questioning. Liebowitz’s rabbi, Shmuel Greenberg, offered a suggestion to his fellow Jews to avoid future misunderstandings: “Pray on the plane and put the tefillin on later.”

New Orleans

Activist arrested: James O’Keefe, a conservative filmmaker who helped discredit the advocacy group ACORN in 2009, was arrested this week and accused of trying to tamper with telephones in Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu’s New Orleans office. Using his cell phone, O’Keefe was recording two companions dressed as repairmen who claimed they needed to fix the phone system, the FBI said. All were arrested for entering federal property under false pretenses. Authorities also arrested a former congressional intern named Robert Flanagan, who has posted negative comments about Landrieu’s support for health-care reform on a conservative blog. O’Keefe made headlines last year when, dressed as a pimp and accompanied by a woman posing as a prostitute, he shot videos of ACORN staffers who appeared to offer illegal tax advice.