Rihanna to testify in Chris Brown hearing, lawyer says

Singer Rihanna cleared her schedule to testify next month in the case against singer Chris Brown, who is charged with brutally beating her earlier this year, her lawyer said. While Brown’s lawyer previously indicated he hoped to resolve the case without public testimony, Los Angeles Criminal Court Judge Patricia Schnegg set on Thursday a preliminary hearing for June 22. Schnegg also ruled Thursday that a leak of police photos showing Rihanna’s bruised and bloodied face would not affect the prosecution of Brown.

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Priest who broke celibacy vow joins Episcopal Church

Father Alberto Cutie, an internationally known Catholic priest who admitted having a romantic affair and breaking his vow of celibacy, is joining the Episcopal Church to be with the woman he loves. Cutie (pronounced koo-tee-AY) will pursue the priesthood in the Episcopal Church, the Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida said in a written statement.

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Woman checks old lottery ticket, wins $10 million

Concerned about her family’s finances, a university student in Australia cashed some long-forgotten lottery tickets this week — hoping the money would help her parents. She discovered their worries are over. The university student won $10 million (A$13 million) — and helped solve a lottery mystery that has made headlines in Western Australia for 10 months.

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Remains found in Illinois are not Stacy Peterson

The remains found last week on the bank of an Illinois river and near a blue barrel are not those of Stacy Peterson, Illinois state police said Wednesday. Many people speculated that the remains, found near the Des Plaines River less than 30 miles from the homes of Peterson and another missing woman, Lisa Stebic, meant one of their disappearances would be solved. But testing done on the remains showed they belonged to a male, police said.

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Mother sentenced in Britain’s ‘Baby P’ case as outcry continues

A British woman and her boyfriend were sentenced to prison Friday in the violent death of the woman’s 17-month-old son, who came to be known as "Baby P" in a case that sparked a furor in Britain. Sentencing the mother to a minimum of five years in prison for her role in her toddler’s horrific death, Judge Stephen Kramer called the woman “manipulative and self-centered.” She and her boyfriend, both of whom cannot be identified for legal reasons, were found guilty of causing the death of the child

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Top Republicans want apology or proof from Pelosi

Top Republicans are demanding an apology from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi or proof to back her claim that the CIA misled Congress about the use of harsh interrogation tactics. Pelosi last week said that she was briefed by the CIA on such techniques only once — in September 2002 — and that she was told at the time that techniques like waterboarding were not being used. Pelosi, D-California, said she learned from an aide that waterboarding had been used after other lawmakers were briefed in 2003.

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Understanding America’s Shift on Abortion

The abortion debate is a shape shifter, its contours twisted by politics, culture, timing and the very language pollsters use when they ask people how they feel. So when the folks at Gallup announced that for the first time more Americans are pro-life than pro-choice, there are all kinds of ways to misunderstand what that means. First and foremost are the labels, which cloud the issue by oversimplifying it — that’s why the advocates picked them

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