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MEXICO CITY (AP) -- A Supreme Court panel voted Wednesday not to free a Frenchwoman who says she was unjustly sentenced to 60 years in prison for kidnapping in a case that has put Mexico's troubled justice system on trial and become a cause celebre in France....

A drug counselor at California high school pleaded not guilty Wednesday to secretly videotaping students engaged in sexual activity with each other, and to possessing child pornography.

CLEVELAND — The accused ringleader in beard-cutting attacks on fellow Amish in Ohio cannot rely on taxpayers to pay his legal bills, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.

U.S. District Court Judge Dan Polster ruled that Samuel Mullet Sr., 66, who has a nearly 800-acre farm near Steubenville with oil and ...

BLT: D.C. Judge Weighs Constitutional Challenge to 'Post and Forfeit' by Zoe Tillman:

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson heard arguments today about whether a legal challenge to a controversial post-arrest procedure in the District of Columbia known as "post and forfeit" should survive a motion to dismiss.

Under "post and forfeit," a person arrested for certain low-level offenses in D.C. can post collateral and then agree to forfeit it in exchange for having the case essentially dropped. The Metropolitan Police Department has come under scrutiny in the past amid concerns that officers used "post and forfeit" to quickly close and cover up wrongful arrests.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- The city of Philadelphia must pay nearly $900,000 after a failed effort to evict the Boy Scouts of America because of the group's ban on gays, a federal judge ruled Wednesday....

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -- Two California men on a gay cruise of the Caribbean were arrested Wednesday in Dominica, where sex between two men is illegal....

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) -- New Hampshire lawmakers on Wednesday rejected a bill that would have made their state legislature the first one to repeal a gay marriage law, handing gay-rights supporters a key victory in the Northeast, where same-sex marriage is prevalent....

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Republican establishment started to coalesce around Mitt Romney in earnest on Wednesday, with Jeb Bush and other leading Republicans pressuring Rick Santorum to leave the race after a thumping in the Illinois primary....

BOULDER CITY, Nev. (AP) -- Wooing a nation of increasingly angry motorists, President Barack Obama and his Republican rivals are all plunging into gas-pump politics, seeking the upper hand as energy becomes a driving issue in the election campaign....

Indiana Law Blog: Ind. Law -- Gov. signs SEA 1, the right to defend against unlawful entry

A news release just received:

Tuesday evening, Governor Daniels signed SEA 1, titled “Right to defend against unlawful entry.” He issued the following statement about his decision to sign the bill:

“After close inspection, I have decided to sign Senate Enrolled Act 1. Contrary to some impressions, the bill strengthens the protection of Indiana law enforcement officers by narrowing the situations in which someone would be justified in using force against them. Senate Enrolled Act 1 puts into place a two-part test before a person can use deadly force against a law enforcement officer: First, it clarifies and restates the current requirement that a person reasonably believe the law enforcement officer is acting unlawfully. Second, it adds that the force must be reasonably necessary to prevent serious bodily injury to the citizen. This second requirement is not part of the current law.

“Moreover, unless a person is convinced an officer is acting unlawfully, he cannot use any force of any kind. In the real world, there will almost never be a situation in which these extremely narrow conditions are met. ..."

The Act is to counter the Indiana Supreme Court's Barnes case, posted here.

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) -- Soldiers on Wednesday stormed the state TV and radio station in Mali, as fears of a possible coup gripped the country after a military mutiny spread from a garrison in the capital to one thousands of miles away....

CLINTONVILLE, Wis. — Sleepless families in a small Wisconsin town longed for quiet Wednesday after mysterious booming noises over the past few nights roused them from bed and sent residents into the street sometimes still in pajamas.

The strange disturbance sounds like distant thunder, fireworks or someone slamming a heavy ...

A gunman suspected of seven killings in France tells police besieging his flat in Toulouse he wants to die, before falling silent overnight.

Jamie Mackie grabs the winner as QPR come from two goals down with 13 minutes left to beat Liverpool and move out of the relegation zone.

Many creatures will mimic more dangerous animals in order to escape being eaten, but why do some of nature's worst impersonators survive?

Carlos Tevez sets up Samir Nasri's winner as Manchester City beat Chelsea to reduce Manchester United's lead to a point.

Nottingham Forest's Garath McCleary scores four as Leeds concede seven goals at home for the first time.

Invisible Children's co-founder Jason Russell is to remain in hospital for weeks after California police found him semi-naked and "acting bizarrely".

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A former government space scientist was sentenced Wednesday to 13 years in prison after admitting he tried to sell space and defense secrets to Israel in what turned out to be an FBI sting operation....

BEIRUT (AP) -- The gunmen in eastern Syria, wielding grenade launchers and assault rifles, announced on the Internet they were forming the "God is Great" Brigade and joining the country's rebellion. They swore allegiance to the Free Syrian Army and vowed to topple President Bashar Assad....