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Tuareg separatist rebels in Mali have seized Timbuktu, taking effective control of the entire north of the country, as coup leaders say they will cede power.

The secretary of state has urged the executive to follow other regions of the UK by setting up enterprise zones in Northern Ireland.

Steven Finn and Jonathan Trott insist Test captain Andrew Strauss still has the backing of the England dressing room.

As hundreds of Welsh soldiers prepare to head to Afghanistan, a new single has been released to raise money for the troops and their families.

HARIPUR, Pakistan (AP) -- It's an ornate but not lavish two-story house tucked away at the end of a mud clogged street. This is where Pakistan's intelligence agency believes Osama bin Laden lived for nearly a year until he moved into the villa in which he was eventually killed....

Air passenger duty (APD) has risen by 8%, as announced by the government in the Autumn Statement last year.

Searchers on Saturday found the body of renowned long-distance runner Micah True, who vanished four days earlier after heading out from a lodge for a morning run in the rugged wilderness near New Mexico's Gila National Forest....

The U.S. vows to nearly double its funding to the opposition, and Turkey's prime minister promises that the Syrian people won't be left alone.

The search is on in the US for the winners of the world's biggest ever lottery jackpot - $640m (£400m).

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- Riot police used pepper spray in small amounts for crowd control as thousands of rowdy fans swarmed into the streets near the University of Kentucky campus, overturning cars and lighting couches ablaze after a victory over cross-state rival Louisville in a Final Four matchup....

A woman whose teenage daughter was killed by carbon monoxide poisoning (CO) from a badly fitted fire urges people to invest in a CO alarm at home.

The Syrian government is trying to "systematically dismantle" the anti-regime "citizen journalist network" and have seized a key player in the operation, activists told CNN Saturday.

The victory would be momentous for the Nobel peace prize laureate, after a decades-long fight for democracy. Official results may be known by Monday morning.

Louis Oosthuizen recovers from a dreadful start to his third round to go into the final day of the Houston Open with a two-shot lead.

A deal has reportedly been agreed to buy a large part of the troubled High Street chain Game Group out of administration.

Government woes dominate papers

Officers alleged to have entered the wrong unit during execution of a search warrant then detaining the occupants for three hours stated a § 1983 claim that overcame qualified immunity. Gomez v. Feissner, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 6450 (3d Cir. March 30, 2012) (unpublished):

The Gomezes also claim that Feissner and Zola violated their right to be free from unreasonable seizure by detaining them for three hours during the search of their home. A "seizure" occurs when a government officer, "by means of physical force or show of authority ... restrains the liberty of a citizen." Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 19 n.16 (1968). Under clearly established Supreme Court precedent, it is reasonable for officers to seize the occupants of a home while conducting a constitutionally valid search thereof. Michigan v. Summers, 452 U.S. 692, 705 (1981). But this is true only for the duration of the search. When the search if completed, the authority expires. Id. Moreover, under Garrison, it is clearly established that once officers know or should know that they are without authority to continue a seizure, they must end it.

The Gomezes allege that Feissner should have known after fifteen minutes that he had no authority to search their home. It is undisputed that for three hours beyond this point, the Gomezes were involuntarily detained by either Feissner or officers under his command. These allegations suffice to make out a violation of the Gomezes' clearly established right to be free from unreasonable seizure, and Feissner accordingly does not have qualified immunity from this claim.

Note: This case states the obvious. What is galling about it is the defendant police officer arguing with a straight face that he, first, could not only enter the wrong apartment when he was on notice by unit numbers and multiple doorways and satellite dishes, but, second, he could then detain the occupants of the place wrongly searched for three hours for no apparent reason. They should settle and move on, if their position in this case hasn't thoroughly added insult to injury and made trial inevitable. This is the double edged sword of qualified immunity: When the defense loses on qualified immunity, you're only arguing about the damages. This is sufficiently flagrant that punitives should result.

The Kansas Jayhawks edged past the Ohio State Buckeyes late Saturday night, setting up an an NCAA tournament championship showdown with top-seeded Kentucky.

The family of a woman killed with her two-year-old son at their Gwynedd home pay tribute to a "fantastic mum" and a "lovely little boy".

Officers working patrol in a housing project smelled marijuana. They followed the smell and found it coming from an apartment. They knocked on the door and the smell was far stronger. The defendant answering the door admitted to smoking marijuana. There was exigency for an entry to seize the marijuana because they couldn’t practically leave and get a warrant without the marijuana being destroyed. United States v. McMillion, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 6434 (3d Cir. March 30, 2012) (unpublished):

Here, the exigency of the circumstances provided the officers with an objectively reasonable belief that a warrantless entry was justified. The officers followed the odor of marijuana to Washington's apartment, knocked on the door and, when Washington opened the door, the odor was even stronger. It was thus reasonable for the officers to suspect that there was ongoing drug activity, and, particularly in light of McMillion's admission to smoking marijuana, it was also reasonable for the officers to conclude that contraband was being destroyed and would continue to be destroyed or removed if they did not act immediately.