NATIONAL BRIEFS

KANSAS: Bradley out of solitary

Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, accused of passing classified documents to WikiLeaks, was cleared Thursday to live alongside other inmates at Fort Leavenworth military prison, a dramatic change from his previous quarters in a Virginia Marine Corps brig where he spent 23 hours a day alone in his cell. Manning passed the lengthy physical and psychiatric evaluation given to new inmates at the prison and received final clearance, its commander, Lt. Col. Dawn Hilton, said. Manning was transferred there last week from the Marine Corps brig in Quantico, Va., where he had been held for the eight months. At Quantico, Manning had to surrender his clothes at night in favor of a military-issued, suicide-prevention smock.

CALIFORNIA: Sirhan claims manipulation

Convicted assassin Sirhan Sirhan was manipulated by a seductive girl in a mind control plot to shoot Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, and his bullets did not kill the presidential candidate, lawyers for Sirhan said in new legal papers. The documents filed this week in federal court in Los Angeles detail extensive interviews with Sirhan during the past three years, some done while he was under hypnosis. The papers point to a mysterious girl in a polka-dot dress as the controller who led Sirhan to fire a gun in the pantry of the Ambassador Hotel. But the documents suggest a second person shot and killed Kennedy while using Sirhan as a diversion. For the first time, Sirhan said under hypnosis that on a cue from the girl he went into "range mode" believing he was at a firing range and seeing circles with targets in front of his eyes.

Guilty pleas in kidnapping

A convicted sex offender and his wife pleaded guilty Thursday to kidnapping and rape in a surprise plea deal that will keep the now-grown victim and the two daughters she gave birth to during her 18 years of captivity from having to testify at a trial. Under the hastily negotiated agreement, Phillip and Nancy Garrido are likely to spend the rest of their lives in prison after abducting Jaycee Dugard in 1991.