Egypt: Judicial authorities this morning suddenly announced that former President Hosni Mubarek, deposed in the 2011 Arab Spring, has been acquitted of corruption. They ordered his release just as the violence in Egypt has turned to atrocities.

  Gunmen today stopped two buses carrying police officers in the Sinai Peninsula and executed 25 of them. Yesterday, 36 prisoners who took a guard hostage inside a transport truck suffocated when security officers fired tear gas into the back of the truck. The dead had been among 600 detainees being taken to prison in a convoy.

Some US senators are calling for the US to cut off aid to Egypt. Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire said on NBC, “They’re obviously getting the impression that no matter what they do, our aid will continue. So we do need to exercise our influence by saying we’re going to follow the law … suspend aid, until you restore democracy.”

World: Blade runner Oscar Pistorius was formally charged with pre-meditated murder in South Africa this morning for the killing of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp last February. The indictment says, “Some of the state witnesses heard a woman scream, followed by moments of silence, then heard gunshots and then more screaming.”

• A high-speed train in India today plowed into a group of religious pilgrims walking the tracks in a remote area, killing 37. Enraged survivors hauled the engineer out of the train and beat him before rescuers arrived.

National: in an investigative report The Oakland Tribune says a young black male in that city has about the same chance of being murdered as he does of graduating high school. In a 10-year period 787 young black men were murdered and 802 graduated from high school ready to attend a Cal State or University of California school.

• The Washington Post reports that Head Start eliminated services for 57,000 children because of the federal sequester budget cuts. The cuts also require firing or reducing pay for 18,000 employees of Head Start.  

Weekend Box: “The Butler”, about a long time White House servant, won the weekend with $25 million. With a cast including Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey, “Butler” distinguished itself by having 41 producers, which sounds like the Hollywood version of the light bulb joke.

A Girl’s Best Friend: Sotheby’s is expected to announce today that it will auction a rare blue diamond in Hong Kong this October because that’s where the money is. The 7.59 carat diamond, about the size of a pea, could sell for as much as $19 million. A setting would be extra.

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