News

A federal judge Thursday scheduled another extradition hearing for former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, who will soon finish a U.S. prison sentence on a 1992 drug conviction, giving his lawyers more time to pursue claims that he should be returned to his homeland rather than sent to France. At the 30-minute hearing before a packed courtroom, U.S. Magistrate Judge William Turnoff set an Aug. 28 hearing on France’s request to have him extradited to face money laundering charges there. The delay will allow Noriega’s attorney, Frank Rubino, to seek to block the French extradition request at a separate hearing Aug....