NATIONAL BRIEFS

ARKANSAS: Cleaning up a big oil spill

Exxon Mobil said one of its pipelines leaked "a few thousand" barrels of Canadian heavy crude oil near Mayflower, 25 miles north of Little Rock, prompting the evacuation of 22 homes and reinforcing concerns many critics have raised about the Keystone XL pipeline that awaits State Department approval. The breach late Friday was in the 20-inch diameter, 95,000-barrel-a-day Pegasus pipeline, which originates in Patoka, Ill., and carries crude to the Texas Gulf Coast. By Sunday afternoon, the company said, it had deployed 15 vacuum trucks and 33 storage tanks to clean up and temporarily store about 12,000 barrels of oil and water that had been recovered. Crews fought in rainy weather to keep the oil from reaching nearby Lake Conway through storm drains.

WISCONSIN: Dad on trial in slaying of 3

Police found a horrifying scene at the Schaffhausen family home in the western city of River Falls last July: three girls dead in their beds, their throats slashed. In the basement, gasoline was sloshed in a possible attempt to burn down their mother's house. Their father goes on trial today to determine whether he was insane at the time. Last week, Aaron Schaffhausen conceded guilt on three counts of first-degree intentional homicide, but maintained he's not responsible for his actions because of mental illness. Prosecutors argue he was perfectly aware in killing Amara, 11, Sophie, 8, and Cecilia, 5, because he was bitter about his divorce and furious because he thought his former wife, Jessica Schaffhausen, had begun seeing another man. Jury selection begins Monday in St. Croix County Circuit Court.

WASHINGTON: Hoping for a panda birth

A Chinese veterinarian performed an artificial insemination on the National Zoo's female giant panda, Mei Xiang after keepers determined there was no natural breeding between her and Tian Tian. Mei Xiang delivered a cub last year, but the female died six days later. Her surviving offspring, Tai Shan, was born in 2005.