MEXICO CITY - Mexico has purged the top leaders of its federal police force and investigations agency, replacing the chiefs from each of the country's 31 states. The housecleaning announced by Public Safety Secretary Genaro Garcia Luna is part of an effort by Mexican President Felipe Calderon to fight drug trafficking, The Los Angeles Times reported. "Every federal cop is obliged to carry out his post with legality, honesty and efficiency," Garcia Luna said at ... [full story]

PERUGIA, Italy - Italy on Tuesday gave a residency permit to a Nigerian woman who said her 7-year-old daughter would be subjected to genital mutilation if they were sent home. The residency permit was granted to Oghowen Agbi, 39, on humanitarian grounds, ANSA reported. Agbi had faced expulsion from Italy after her request for refugee status was denied. "She fears that if she goes back to her home country, she won't be able to protect ... [full story]

LONDON - A man is suing two train operators in London, claiming a fiery 1999 crash he survived was responsible for a personality change that turned him into a killer. The lawyer for Kerrie Gray told judges at the High Court prior to the two-train, Oct. 5, 1999, crash at Ladbroke Grove, Gray had led a "normal and uneventful life." The lawsuit seeking $600,000 claims Gray afterward grappled with post traumatic stress disorder and snapped ... [full story]

DAKAR, Senegal - U.S. first lady Laura Bush Tuesday touted the importance of nutrition for HIV/AIDS patients during a visit to Fann Hospital in Dakar, Senegal. Bush, accompanied by daughter Jenna, toured the hospital's garden and kitchen before delivering a statement to a group of reporters. "It's often overlooked that one essential thing in the treatment of AIDS or HIV is good nutrition," she said, adding keeping patients adequately fed gives antiretroviral drugs a chance ... [full story]

SACRAMENTO - The University of Phoenix is seeking to quash a major fraud case against it, as it already has paid nearly $10 million to the U.S. Department of Education. The school is the country's largest vocational school chain, with 180 campuses and more than 300,000 students. It was sued in 2003 by two former enrollment counselors, who said they had been offered incentives. Because about 80 percent of the school's students are on federal ... [full story]

ST. PAUL, Minn. - A St. Paul, Minn., father was arrested after he allegedly threatened to shoot his son's Little League coach. Wade Campbell is accused of threatening Noe Ambriz Jr. because he felt the coach was not giving his 12-year-old son enough time on the diamond, the St. Paul Pioneer-Press reported Tuesday. Ambriz says Campbell shouted at him during a game and later made a threatening phone call to him and his wife. "I'm ... [full story]

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Supreme Court Monday upheld the right of school officials to limit student speech about drugs at school events. At issue was a banner students unfurled outside a Juneau, Alaska, high school in 2002 as Olympic torch bearers passed by on their way to Salt Lake City that read "BONG HiTS 4 JESUS." Principal Deborah Morse confiscated the banner, saying it violated a policy against speech promoting drug use. Student Joseph Frederick ... [full story]

SALT LAKE CITY - A white supremacist Utah prison inmate was back in custody Monday after allegedly killing a guard and leading police on a high-speed chase. White supremacist Curtis Michael Allgier Authorities said Curtis Allgier, a 27-year-old inmate whose head is covered with tattoos that include a swastika and the words skin head, shot corrections officer Stephen Anderson, 60, of Bluffdale, while in a medical examination room at University Hospital's Orthopaedic clinic where he had ... [full story]

One person has died and another is in reportedly critical condition following a crash on a dirt road in north La Pine last evening when the driver lost control and rolled the pickup several times, deputies reported. Deschutes County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the report of a rollover crash on S. Huntington Road near Riverview Drive about 8:30 p.m. on June 25, and found both occupants of a 1994 Ford Ranger pickup had been ejected ... [full story]

NEW YORK - Even though New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he's not running for president, the independent received healthy recognition in a national poll. In the CNN-Opinion Research Corporation telephone poll of 1,029 U.S. residents, the recently declared independent Bloomberg ranked third after Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Clinton scored 49 percent approval among Democrats, Giuliani logged 48 percent among Republicans, while Bloomberg got 17 percent approval from ... [full story]