The woman sexually assaulted by Roman Polanski when she was a child is urging a court to dismiss the case against the film director, saying the media attention has made her ill.

Los Angeles' top prosecutor said today his office was not persecuting Roman Polanski, but merely trying to resolve the child sex case delayed by the director's flight from the US in 1978.

The California parole board was urged today to deny a request by Charles Manson follower Susan Atkins to be released from jail on compassionate grounds.

A suicidal man said to have parked his Jeep in the path of a commuter train, causing a horrific crash that killed 11 people, is expected to appear in court today charged with murder.

The suicidal man blamed for the chain-reaction train derailment that killed 11 people in Los Angeles has been charged with multiple counts of murder and could face the death penalty, the district attorney said today.

A suicidal man parked his off-road vehicle on a California railway line, setting off a crash between two commuter trains that killed at least 11 people in America’s worst train accident in nearly six years.

Prosecutors are to seek a retrial of a former Los Angeles police officer who was videotaped punching and slamming a handcuffed black teenager on to a squad car.

PROSECUTORS in Los Angeles were yesterday deciding whether to seek a retrial, after a jury failed to reach a verdict in the case of apoliceman who was caught on video assaulting a handcuffed black teenager.

Prosecutors in Los Angeles were today deciding whether to seek a retrial after a jury failed to reach a verdict in the case of a policeman who was caught on video assaulting a handcuffed black teenager.

Oscar-winning director Roman Polanski can never return to America without serving a prison sentence.