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(IsraelNN.com) Three British Muslims were convicted by a jury in London Monday of plotting to murder thousands by detonating liquid explosives on at least seven airliners bound for the United States and Canada in 2006. Four other alleged conspirators were acquitted of conspiring to blow up the planes. The jury could not reach a verdict on an eighth man. All of the defendants, except the eighth man, had pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance but denied the terrorism charges.

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Former major league outfielder Mel Hall was sentenced to 45 years in prison Wednesday after being convicted of raping a 12-year-old girl he coached on an elite basketball team. Hall was convicted on three counts of aggravated sexual assault and two counts of indecency with a child. Among his accusers during sentencing Wednesday were others who said he carried on inappropriate relationships with them.

ARUSHA, Tanzania – A former Rwandan army colonel was convicted Thursday of genocide and crimes against humanity for masterminding the killings of more than half a million people in a 100-day slaughter in 1994. Survivors in Rwanda welcomed the watershed moment in a long search for justice. The U.N. courtroom in Tanzania was packed for the culmination of the trial of Theoneste Bagosora, the highest-ranking Rwandan official to be convicted in the genocide. Onlookers were silent as the 67-year-old was sentenced to life in prison.

Officials convicted of corruption collect pensions, adding insult to injuryJANE ANN MORRISON With all the cheery news of corrupt politicians, a reader asked whether convicted politicians lose their pensions? Not in Nevada. When Dario Herrera, Mary Kincaid-Chauncey, Erin Kenny and Lance Malone get out of prison, they will still qualify for their pensions. Can't tell you how much money that will be because the Nevada Public Employees Retirement System isn't allowed to reveal personal pension information. The only time Nevada law bans public employees of any ilk from qualifying for a pension is if they murder someone just to get...

More than 30,000 Florida felons who by law should have been stripped of their right to vote remain registered to cast ballots in this presidential battleground state, a Sun Sentinel investigation has found. Many are faithful voters, with at least 4,900 turning out in past elections. Another 5,600 are not likely to vote Nov. 4 — they're still in prison. Of the felons who registered with a party, Democrats outnumber Republicans more than two to one. Florida's elections chief, Secretary of State Kurt Browning, acknowledged his staff has failed to remove thousands of ineligible felons because of a shortage of...

LONDON - Clad in mud-smeared combat fatigues, the young Muslims trained on picturesque British farmland, hurling imaginary grenades, wielding sticks as mock rifles and chopping watermelons in simulated beheadings. A four-year inquiry, which came to a close Tuesday with guilty pleas from the last two of seven gang members, has exposed a network of alleged British terrorism training camps meant to prepare recruits for mass murder. Security officials believe hundreds of men — including a gang that made a failed attempt to bomb London's transit network — passed through camps set up across the English countryside. Investigators say it was...

NIAGARA FALLS, Ontario - Danny Glover has been convicted in Niagara Falls, Ontario, for trespassing in a hotel during a union rally in 2006. Glover, who wasn't in court, was convicted Thursday along with UNITE HERE union representative Alex Dagg and Ontario Federation of Labour President Wayne Samuelson. Canadian Niagara Hotels charged the three with trespassing at their Sheraton on the Falls property during a Sept. 16, 2006, protest. The 60-year-old actor took part in the protest as part of a larger campaign that aims to increase salaries and improve working conditions for hotel workers in the U.S. and Canada....

MIAMI (AFP) - Jose Padilla, a US citizen convicted of supporting the Al Qaeda terror network, could face anywhere from decades to a lifetime behind bars, a federal judge said on Tuesday. Judge Marcia Cooke rejected defense claims that Padilla, 37, and two co-conspirators had not commited any actual act of terrorism. She ruled that a special provision for stiffer penalties applied and that the three could each face prison sentences of 30 years to life. Before Cooke delivers sentence, probably later this week, lawyers for the two sides will present their arguments for sentencing. The prosecutors want Padilla, Adham...

BOSTON - Three former leaders of an Islamic charity were convicted Friday of duping the U.S. government into getting tax-exempt status by hiding the group's pro-jihad activities. Care International Inc., which is now defunct, described its mission as helping war orphans, widows and refugees in Muslim nations. But prosecutors said the organization also distributed a newsletter promoting jihad and supported Muslim militants involved in armed conflicts around the world. Emadeddin Muntasser, the founder of Care International; Muhammed Mubayyid, the group's former treasurer; and Samir Al-Monla, the president of Care from 1996 to 1998, were charged with tax code violations, making...

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) -- A nephew of Trevor Berbick has been convicted along with another man of killing the 54-year-old former heavyweight champion. A jury Thursday found 21-year-old Harold Berbick guilty of murder and 19-year-old Kenton Gordon guilty of manslaughter in the death of the former boxer. The judge ordered both men jailed pending their Jan. 11 sentencing. Authorities said the nephew and Gordon beat Berbick to death in October 2006, leaving his body in a church courtyard in Portland. Harold Berbick had been involved in a land dispute with his uncle. Trevor Berbick was the last fighter to face...

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) - A man accused of killing his Kent County Jail cellmate because he suspected the man of stealing his snack cake has been convicted of murder. Prosecutors say he dragged Estrada from the top bunk of his bed after discovering his Honey Bun snack cake was missing.

SAN FRANCISCO – A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld the death sentence for convicted murderer Kevin Cooper, whose 2004 execution was stayed just hours before he was to die by lethal injection. The planned execution was halted after the 9th U.S. District Court of Appeals reopened the case so two DNA tests on a blond hair and a bloody shirt found at the murder scene could be done. DNA testing wasn't available in 1984. Cooper, who has long maintained his innocence, was convicted of the murders of Douglas and Peggy Ryen, both 41, their 10-year-old daughter, Jessica, and Christopher...

Federal records show wanted man raised big money for Dems. Congressman Mark Udall's U.S. Senate campaign committee is among dozens of mostly Democratic political organizations to have received a large financial contribution from a New York fundraiser who has been wanted by authorities in California. Federal Election Commission records indicate that Norman Hsu, listed as a resident of New York, gave $1,000 to "Udall for Colorado Inc." on June 25. Hsu has a lengthy record of gathering large contributions for prominent Democratic campaigns, including those of presidential hopefuls Sen. Hillary Clinton, of New York, and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama. FEC...

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. - A military jury on Wednesday convicted a Marine of conspiring to murder an Iraqi man in a bungled attempt to abduct and kill a suspected insurgent in Hamdania. Cpl. Trent Thomas, 25, was the first of seven Marines and a Navy corpsman to go to trial in the killing, which squad members tried to cover up by planting a gun near the victim after he was gunned down in a ditch. Thomas faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, according to his defense attorney, Victor Kelley. While several of the men pleaded guilty in the...

SCRANTON, Pennsylvania (Reuters) - A Pennsylvania man was convicted on Friday of plotting to blow up U.S. oil pipelines and energy installations and of attempting to enlist al Qaeda militants on the Internet to help carry out his plan. A federal jury of six women and six men took a little more than an hour to convict Michael Curtis Reynolds, 49, on those charges and of possessing a hand grenade. He faces a maximum 57 1/2 years in prison. The government accused Reynolds, from Wilkes-Barre, of scheming to attack the Alaska and Transcontinental pipelines and other energy installations to prompt...

BAGHDAD — Saddam Hussein's cousin and two other former regime officials were convicted Sunday of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity and sentenced to hang for the brutal crackdown that killed up to 180,000 Kurdish civilians and guerrillas two decades ago. Two other defendants were sentenced to life in prison for their roles in the 1987-1988 crackdown, known as "Operation Anfal." A sixth defendant was acquitted for lack of evidence. Death sentences are automatically appealed. The most notorious defendant was Saddam's cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as "Chemical Ali" for ordering the use of mustard gas and nerve agents...

SAN FRANCISCO -- Marijuana advocate Ed Rosenthal was convicted for a second time today of violating federal drug laws by growing pot plants for medical patients, but he faces no punishment for the felony convictions, apart from the one day in jail that he has already served. Rosenthal, 62, of Oakland, a well-known authority on cannabis cultivation, former columnist for High Times magazine and author of a recent book calling for legalization of marijuana, was convicted by a federal jury in San Francisco of three charges of illegal cultivation and conspiracy after a day of deliberations. He was acquitted of...

Following a 13-day trial that included video recordings of former state Sen. John Ford receiving cash payments from an FBI undercover agent, a 12-person jury found the Memphis Democrat guilty on one count of bribery. The jury deadlocked on an extortion charge. He was acquitted of all three charges of intimidation. The bribery charge carries up to 10 years in prison. Using an FBI sham company called E-Cycle Management, which claimed to be in the business of recycling computers, undercover lawmen operating in Tennessee Waltz bribed elected officials to draft, sponsor and change legislation that benefited E-Cycle. He will be...

MIAMI - The former head of a national organization of black Baptist churches spent four years in prison for stealing millions of dollars from the group. Now he wants one of his old jobs back: leader of the organization's Florida chapter. The Rev. Henry Lyons, 65, was wildly popular before his conviction and is still highly regarded by many church members. He was vying with two other ministers Wednesday to lead the Florida General Baptist Convention, a chapter of the National Baptist Convention USA, which claims to represent some 7.5 million members of black churches nationwide. Representatives of member churches...

KABUL, Afghanistan - When the deal went down in Las Vegas, the seller was introduced only as "Mr. E." In a room at Caesars Palace hotel, Mr. E exchanged a pound-and-a-half bag of heroin for $65,000 cash — unaware that the buyer was an undercover detective. The sting landed him in Nevada state prison for nearly four years. Twenty years later and Mr. E, whose real name is Izzatullah Wasifi, has a new job. He is the government of Afghanistan's anti-corruption chief. Wasifi leads a staff of 84 people charged with rooting out the endemic graft that is fueled in...

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - Five former managers from a major crate and pallet manufacturer that employed illegal immigrants have pleaded guilty. The plea comes ten months after federal agents staged sweeping raids at IFCO Systems sites in 26 states. In April, more than 1,100 people were arrested on administrative immigration charges at more than 40 IFCO sites. The government has said that more than half the company's roughly 5,800 employees during 2005 had invalid or mismatched Social Security numbers. Prosecutors say a company executive and a former general manager of the company's Albany, New York, plant could face up to...

Border agents who testified against convicted co-workers will be fired Men who were at scene of shooting terminated for changing their stories by Sara A. Carter Two Border Patrol agents who testified against two co-workers convicted of shooting a drug smuggler will be fired for changing their stories about events surrounding the shooting, according to documents obtained by the Daily Bulletin. Sources inside the Border Patrol also say Oscar Juarez, a third agent who testified against Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean, resigned from the agency last month shortly before he was to be fired. All three...

LONDON - A British Muslim who led an angry crowd in chants of "Bomb, bomb, Denmark, bomb, bomb USA" during protests of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad was found guilty Friday of incitement to murder. Umran Javed, 27, was one of the leaders of a Feb. 3 rally held outside the Danish Embassy in London, prosecutor David Perry said. Javed, who was also convicted of racial incitement, was caught after police videotaped him speaking into a loudspeaker at the protest, which drew about 200-300 people. Javed acknowledged the words, but told the jury he was disappointed with himself and had...

A protest in London against the publication of a cartoon depicting the prophet Mohammed as a terrorist incensed an Aberporth man, who painted an anti-Muslim slogan on a white sheet and draped it over his garden fence. The words in bold red paint stated: "Kill all Muslims who threaten us and our way of life. Enoch Powell was right." Father of two Gary John Mathewson, who was arrested for displaying the banner, told a court: "This won't stop until there is a Muslim president in the White House." continued... And referring to MP Jack Straw questioning whether Muslim women should...

ALBANY, New York (Reuters) - A U.S. federal jury on Tuesday convicted two Muslim men charged with participating in a plan set up as part of a sting operation that was supposed to involve killing a Pakistani diplomat. Yassin Aref, 36, and Mohammed Hossain, 51, were accused of conspiring to provide material support to the Pakistan-based Islamic militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed, which is labeled a terrorist organization by the U.S. government. Prosecutors had argued at trial that the men were driven by ideology and money, while defense lawyers countered that they were either entrapped by zealous prosecutors or were the victims...

DENVER - An illegal immigrant from Mexico who fled to his home country after killing a police officer and wounding another was convicted Friday of second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder. Raul Gomez-Garcia, 21, was convicted in the May 2005 death of Detective Donald Young and the shooting of Detective John Bishop. Both officers were working off-duty as security for a party. Gomez-Garcia faces a sentence of up to 80 years, Police Chief Gerry Whitman said. Gomez-Garcia testified that he didn't intend to kill the officers. He said he fired after Young grabbed him by the neck and arm to...

A conservative grass-roots organization has gathered nearly 40,000 signatures since Wednesday on a petition to be sent to President Bush on behalf of two Border Patrol agents convicted of violating a drug smuggler's civil rights. Two of the jurors who convicted the agents also are expressing misgivings about the verdict, saying they were pressured by other jury members and the prosecution to reach a quick decision in the case. Grassfire, a nonprofit organization that uses online petitions to affect legislation, has created a special Web link and letter to President Bush for Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean, who were...

US Border Patrol Agent Ignacio Ramos attorney is Mary Stillinger (article at the end of this email) http://www.marystillingerlaw.com/index.jsp (915) 544-0415 I just spoke with Attorney Mary Stillinger's legal assistant, Ruth. She said that the U.S. Border Patrol Agents are scheduled for their sentencing on August 22nd. Ruth said IF WE SEND LETTERS stating the border patrol agents have been wrongly accused THAT ATTORNEY MARY STILLINGER CAN USE OUR LETTERS WHEN SHE GOES BEFORE THE JUDGE on August 22nd. Letters could be helpful for both the sentencing and the appeal in this case, she said. I have been researching this issue...

EL PASO, Texas - Border Patrol Agent Ignacio Ramos could hear his heart racing. He could feel the dry, hot dust burning against his skin as he chased a drug trafficker trying to flee back into Mexico. Ramos' fellow agent, Jose Alonso Compean, was lying on the ground behind him, banged up and bloody from a scuffle with the much-bigger smuggler moments earlier. Suddenly the smuggler turned toward the pursuing Ramos, gun in hand. Ramos, his own weapon already drawn, shot at him, though the man was able to flee into the brush and escape the agents. Now, nearly 18...

Billionaire philanthropist George Soros swore in 1973 that the removal of President George Bush from office was the "central focus of my life" and "a matter of life and death," according to The Washington Post. He still feels that way about the current president and the grip that Republicans have on the body politic of the country, although he's not a whole lot happier about the way Democrats have been doing things lately. Soros, 75, was in Aspen on Thursday to speak at the Aspen Institute as part of its free McCloskey Speaker Series, and he did not disappoint a...

JAKARTA, July 30 (UPI) -- The leader of the Indonesian Mujahedeen Council says he wants to convert Indonesia into an "Allahcracy," it was reported Sunday. Abu Bakar Bashir, 68, free after serving two years in jail for his role in a bombing of two nightclubs in Bali in 2002 that killed 202 people, tells the Sunday Times of London that Islamist bombings "are reactions by Muslims to defend themselves." "The democratic system is not the Islamic way," he says. "It is forbidden. Democracy is based on people, but the state must be based on God's law. I call it Allahcracy."...

OKLAHOMA CITY A California man has been convicted in federal court of smuggling illegal immigrants from Los Angeles to Oklahoma, a federal prosecutor said Monday. Jose Angel Lopez-Lozoya, 32, of Paramount, Calif., was convicted Friday of eight counts of transporting illegal aliens, said John Richter, the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma. The trial lasted five days. Lopez-Lozoya faces a sentence on each count of up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. A sentencing hearing before District Judge Vicki Miles-LaGrange will be set in about 60 to 90 days, Richter said. "This case demonstrates that...

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - The Witch of Pungo is no longer a witch. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine on Monday exonerated Grace Sherwood, who 300 years ago became Virginia's only woman convicted as a witch tried by water. "I am pleased to officially restore the good name of Grace Sherwood," Kaine wrote in a letter Virginia Beach Mayor Meyera Oberndorf read aloud before a re-enactment of Sherwood's being dropped into the river. "With 300 years of hindsight, we all certainly can agree that trial by water is an injustice," Kaine wrote. "We also can celebrate the fact that a woman's equality...

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Former Gov. Don Siegelman and former Health South CEO Richard Scrushy were convicted Thursday in a bribery scheme that derailed Siegelman's campaign to retake his former office. Siegelman, 60, was accused of trading government favors for campaign donations when he was governor from 1999 to 2003 and lieutenant governor from 1995 to 1999. Scrushy was accused of arranging $500,000 in donations to Siegelman's campaign for a state lottery in exchange for a seat on a state hospital regulatory board. The case was tried as Siegelman sought the Democratic nomination for governor, and the trial put him in...

MARTINEZ - Susan Polk will arrive this summer at a state prison in Chowchilla, a world away from her once posh life as a homemaker who loved to garden at her million-dollar Orinda home. That bus ride could come days after July 14, when Judge Laurel Brady is scheduled to sentence Polk to 16 years to life in prison for stabbing to death her husband, Felix Polk, in 2002.When a court clerk read the second-degree murder verdict Friday, one of the few close supporters with Polk in the courtroom was her case manager, Valerie Harris, who the defendant fired at...

HOUSTON - Former Enron Corp. chiefs Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling were convicted Thursday of conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud in a case born from one of the biggest business scandals in U.S. history. The verdict put the blame for the demise of what was once the nation's seventh-largest company squarely on its top two executives. It came in the sixth day of deliberations following a trial that lasted nearly four months. Lay was also convicted of bank fraud and making false statements to banks in a separate trial related to his personal banking. The former corporate titans...

Pakistani convicted for plot to bomb New York subway05-25-2006, 00h32 NEW YORK (AFP) In this courtroom illustration, James Elshafay (C) and Shahawar Matin Siraj (R) appear August 2004 in Federal District Court in New York, before Magistrate Kiyo Matsumoto (R rear) during an arraignment on charges related to an alleged plot to bomb a New York City subway station. Standing at left are Assistant US attorneys John Nathanson (L) and Kelly Currie (2nd L). (AFP/Getty Images/File) A Pakistani man was convicted of planning to blow up a New York subway station ahead of the Republican National Convention held before the...

THREE animal rights activists were jailed for 12 years each and a fourth imprisoned for four years for a terror campaign against an English guinea pig farm that culminated in a grave robbing. John Ablewhite, Kerry Whitburn and John Smith were today each handed 12-year prison terms at Nottingham Crown Court in central England after pleading guilty to a charge of conspiring to blackmail the farm owners. Josephine Mayo was jailed for four years after admitting a lesser part in the six-year campaign against the Hall family who own a farm in Staffordshire, central England, which bred the rodents for...

An immigrant smuggler was convicted Tuesday of causing the deaths of three passengers in a June 2003 crash while fleeing authorities. A jury deliberated for nearly six hours before finding Antonio Sanchez, 30, guilty on three counts of second-degree murder. Sanchez, a Mexican citizen, was retried for speeding away from the California Highway Patrol on state Route 78 near Borrego Springs, killing a woman and two men he was trying to smuggle into the country. He was originally convicted in March 2004 on similar charges and sentenced to 53 years to life in prison. But a state appellate court reversed...

SAN DIEGO - A Pakistani who spent five years in prison for selling missile parts to Iran in the 1980s was convicted Friday of illegally exporting military aircraft parts to Belgium, Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates. Arif Ali Durrani was convicted in U.S. District Court on four counts of exporting engine parts and other components for the F-5 fighter jet and the Chinook helicopter, said Jennifer Silliman, assistant special agent in charge for Immigration and Customs Enforcement in San Diego. Durrani was also convicted on one count of conspiracy to export parts, she said. The ultimate destination for the...

Ex-Atlanta Mayor Convicted in Tax Evasion Saturday March 11, 2006 2:16 AM By HARRY WEBER Associated Press Writer ATLANTA (AP) - Former Mayor Bill Campbell was acquitted Friday of lining his pockets with payoffs while guiding Atlanta through a period of explosive growth that helped secure its place during the 1990s as a world-class city. But the jury convicted him of tax evasion. Campbell, 52, could get up to nine years in prison and $300,000 in fines, but legal experts have said it's doubtful he would receive the maximum sentence. (...) But, Campbell said, he was vindicated by the ``substance''...

Since the 1970s, more than a dozen congressmen have been convicted in criminal court. Their cases and sentences include: - Rep. Andrew J. Hinshaw, R-Calif., spent a year in jail after being convicted in 1976 of accepting bribes when he was county tax assessor. He lost the primary election and resigned at the end of his term. - Rep. Charles Diggs Jr., D-Mich., was convicted in 1978 of operating a payroll kickback scheme in his congressional office. He served seven months of a three-year prison term. He was re-elected, then resigned in 1980. - Rep. Michael Myers, D-Pa., served 20...

FORT CARSON, Colo. (Jan. 24) - A military jury recommended a simple reprimand Monday for an Army officer who killed an Iraqi general by stuffing him headfirst into a sleeping bag and sitting on his chest during an interrogation. As soldiers applauded in the courtroom, Chief Warrant Officer Lewis Welshofer Jr. hugged his wife after hearing the surprisingly light sentence, which will be reviewed by Fort Carson's commander, Maj. Gen. Robert W. Mixon. The commander cannot order a harsher sentence, defense attorney Frank Spinner said. Welshofer, 43, was charged with murder, but was convicted over the weekend of negligent homicide...

PARCHMAN, Miss. (AP) — A 77-year-old convicted hitman was executed Wednesday, becoming the oldest person in the nation put death since capital punishment was reinstated nearly three decades ago. John B. Nixon Sr. still claimed innocence as he was strapped to the death chamber gurney, and blamed one of his sons for the 1985 murder of a Mississippi woman.

DALLAS - A woman accused of suffocating her 5-month old daughter by using chili powder as a thumb-sucking remedy was convicted of manslaughter Sunday. Angela DiSabella, 21, of Irving, was sentenced to seven years in prison for the 2004 death of her daughter, Kira. DiSabella had been charged with capital murder. Jurors convicted her on the lesser charge after nearly 11 hours of deliberations. According to an affidavit, DiSabella told police she put chili powder on Kira's thumb after getting the idea on the Internet. Police said the child was malnourished and had chili powder in her throat and on...

HOUSTON (Nov. 4) - A Texas death row inmate somehow found some civilian clothing, changed out of his orange jumpsuit and used a fake ID badge to escape late Thursday from the Harris County Jail. Charles Victor Thompson, 35, of Tomball, was in Houston after being re-sentenced last week to execution. "He managed to get some civilian clothing. He had changed out of the orange jumpsuit that inmates ordinarily wear," Harris County sheriff's Lt. John Martin said in the online edition of the Houston Chronicle. "He may have been taken out of the cell block and put in the attorney...

LOS ANGELES - A former mayor of suburban Lynwood was convicted Tuesday of federal charges involving the funneling of millions of dollars in city contracts to a sham consulting company he secretly controlled. Paul Richards, 49, was found guilty of conspiracy to commit extortion, fraud, money laundering and depriving the public of honest services. Prosecutors accused Richards of arranging to have more than $2.5 million in city contracts awarded to a consulting company, Allied Government Services, that listed his sister, Paula Cameo Harris, as its president. Last week, Richards denied wrongdoing and told jurors he did not disclose his ties...

KENTWOOD IN THE PINES – An airborne wild turkey struck a motorcyclist on state Route 79 yesterday. Two turkeys were walking across southbound Route 79 near Royal Drive about 11:15 a.m., said Officer Brian Pennings of the California Highway Patrol. One turkey began to fly and struck a southbound motorcyclist in the chest. The impact caused the rider of the 2001 Harley Davidson Softail to cross into the northbound lanes and go into an embankment. The 56-year-old man hit a manzanita bush and rolled over twice. He was thrown from the motorcycle and suffered abrasions to the right side of...

McALLEN, Texas - A senior U.S. Customs inspector pleaded guilty Tuesday to money laundering and conspiring to smuggle drugs from Mexico, federal prosecutors said. Lizandro Martinez, 44, was paid to let a series of trucks containing thousands of pounds of marijuana pass over the Progreso International Bridge without inspection for more than 2 1/2 years beginning in 2002, according to court documents. As part of a plea agreement, Martinez will resign and forfeit hundreds of thousands of dollars in vehicles and real estate bought with the laundered money. Roberto Dominguez, 44, of Hildalgo, was also convicted Tuesday of similar charges...

D.C. Watson responds to CAIR's challenge: Muslims aim to challenge critics in America Convention seminar focuses on best ways for followers to respond when their faith is attacked. From the story: As the Plainfield-based Islamic Society of North America hosts nearly 40,000 Muslims this weekend near Chicago at its 42nd annual convention, there is plenty of talk here about how Muslims must answer their critics and, if need be, get tough with them. At a Saturday morning seminar attended by more than 200 people, the discussion included how to apply pressure on politicians who smear the faith, the benefits of...