CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney made a strong play for votes in conservative South Carolina’s primary on Thursday, campaigning there with two popular politicians who are backing his bid instead of remaining in New Hampshire ahead of its first-in-the-nation primary next week. “He’s got to do some work,” South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley told reporters after appearing with Romney and Sen. John McCain, the party’s 2008 presidential nominee. “He’s got to get on the ground, and... Read more

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — California’s highest court is hearing a precedent-setting case that could expose the state’s Roman Catholic dioceses to another round of clergy abuse lawsuits. The case being argued Thursday before the California Supreme Court involves six brothers in their 40s and 50s who say they were molested by an Oakland priest during the 1970s. The priest, Donald Broderson, was forced to retire amid abuse allegations in 1993. The Oakland Diocese says the men are barred from suing... Read more

ISTANBUL (AP) — A former Turkish military chief suspected of leading an Internet campaign to stir revolt was jailed Friday in a sweeping investigation of alleged conspiracies to topple a civilian government that has stripped the armed forces of political clout. Gen. Ilker Basbug, 68, was the most senior officer to face trial in the anti-terror probes that began years ago, netting hundreds of suspects, many of them retired and active-duty military officers. The government casts the inquiries as a... Read more

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — California’s highest court heard a precedent-setting case Thursday that could expose Roman Catholic dioceses in the state to another round of clergy abuse lawsuits. The case before the California Supreme Court, which involves six brothers in their 40s and 50s, could allow adults who only recently connected their psychological problems to what happened to them as children to seek damages. The brothers allege they were molested by an Oakland priest during the 1970s but didn’t link... Read more

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — California’s highest court is hearing a precedent-setting case that could expose California’s Roman Catholic dioceses to another round of clergy abuse lawsuits. The case being argued Thursday before the California Supreme Court involves six brothers in their 40s and 50s who allege they were molested by an Oakland priest during the 1970s. The priest, Donald Broderson, was forced to retire amid abuse allegations in 1993. The Oakland Diocese maintains the men are barred from suing because... Read more

LOS ANGELES (AP) — As an auxiliary bishop in the nation’s most populous Roman Catholic archdiocese, Gabino Zavala was an outspoken advocate for immigration rights, prison reforms and better conditions for the working poor. Now parishioners and church officials in the region where the popular Zavala grew up struggled to come to grips with the announcement of his resignation and revelation that he fathered two children, a violation of canon laws of celibacy for priests. Zavala, 60, who once urged... Read more

LOS ANGELES (AP) — An auxiliary bishop for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles has resigned after admitting that he fathered two children who are now teenagers. Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday accepted the resignation of Gabino Zavala. He was in charge of the San Gabriel Region in the nation’s most populous archdiocese. In a letter to the faithful, Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez says Zavala told him in December that he had two children who live with their... Read more

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The resignation of a Los Angeles bishop who fathered two children has shocked the nation’s most populous Roman Catholic archdiocese, where Auxiliary Bishop Gabino Zavala grew up and was an outspoken supporter of causes dear to the huge Hispanic population. Zavala, 60, who once urged Catholic media to report scandals such as clergy sex abuse “in a spirit of love and mercy,” had his resignation accepted by Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday. A code of Roman... Read more

NEWARK, New Jersey (AP) — A prominent American rabbi who admitted playing a role in a $1 million money laundering scheme involving religious charities was sentenced Wednesday to five years in prison, the longest sentence so far from the state’s largest-ever federal corruption sting. Rabbi Eliahu Ben Haim was arrested in July 2009 in a wide-ranging federal corruption probe into international money laundering and political corruption that ultimately netted 46 defendants. Ben Haim, 60, pleaded guilty last year to a... Read more

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — A prominent rabbi who admitted playing a role in a $1 million money laundering scheme involving religious charities was sentenced Wednesday in Trenton to five years in prison, the longest sentence so far from the state’s largest-ever federal corruption sting. Eliahu Ben Haim was arrested in July 2009 in a wide-ranging federal corruption probe into international money laundering and political corruption that ultimately netted 46 defendants. Ben Haim, a 60-year-old Long Branch resident, pleaded guilty last... Read more