In brief: Prosecutors want Tucson hearings

TUCSON, Ariz. – Federal prosecutors want all future hearings for the suspect accused of shooting Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and 18 others to be held in Tucson instead of Phoenix.

The U.S. attorney for Arizona filed the court request late Sunday, just hours before Jared Loughner is expected to be arraigned in the federal courthouse in Phoenix.

The filing says the case should be sent back to Tucson because all the victims and witnesses live in the area. Loughner is charged with attempted assassination of a member of Congress and trying to kill two federal employees. The case was moved to Phoenix because one of the six dead, U.S. District Judge John Roll, was based in Tucson.

Allen to seek old Senate seat

RICHMOND, Va. – Republican George Allen will announce today that he will seek to reclaim the U.S. Senate seat from Virginia that he lost five years ago to Democrat Jim Webb.

A person close to the 58-year-old Allen told the Associated Press that he will make his plans official in a video to be e-mailed today.

Allen, a former governor and congressman who was once considered a potential Republican presidential contender, lost to Webb by about 9,000 votes after a series of gaffes in a year when his party lost control of Congress to Democrats.

Tea party activist Jamie Radtke has already announced her intent to seek the GOP nomination.

Lawyer told DNA links client, rapes

DETROIT – A lawyer for a 31-year-old man arrested in a string of rapes that terrorized Detroit said Sunday that investigators have told him they have DNA evidence linking his client to the attacks.

Charges are expected today, said defense lawyer James Galen Jr. He said he also was told his client was picked out of a lineup, but he wasn’t certain who identified him.

Galen said his client told investigators he wasn’t involved in the assaults. The man’s name hasn’t been released, pending formal charges.

Police said the string of attacks includes seven sexual assaults and one attempted rape. The rapist targeted women standing alone at bus stops or walking by themselves between early evening and early morning hours, police said.