BUFFALO, N.Y. - The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected a petition to review the murder case of an anti-abortion extremist who is also suspected in the shootings of three Canadian doctors.

James Charles Kopp claims his constitutional rights were violated during the state and federal trials that sent him to prison for life for the sniper-style slaying of an American abortion provider.

The U.S. justices on Monday denied Kopp's petition to review the lower court records. The court gets around 8,000 such requests every year and accepts fewer than 150.

BUFFALO, N.Y. - The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected a petition to review the murder case of an anti-abortion extremist who is also suspected in the shootings of three Canadian doctors.

James Charles Kopp claims his constitutional rights were violated during the state and federal trials that sent him to prison for life for the sniper-style slaying of an American abortion provider.

The U.S. justices on Monday denied Kopp's petition to review the lower court records. The court gets around 8,000 such requests every year and accepts fewer than 150.

JOHANNESBURG - In tweets, songs, telephone calls, cards and more, messages of love have come from across South Africa and the world for 94-year-old Nelson Mandela, giving the family comfort and hope as he remains hospitalized in serious condition with a lung infection, his wife said Monday.

WASHINGTON - Offering praise for Iranians and reproaching their government, the Obama administration said Saturday it respected the results of a presidential election conducted under restrictive conditions.

AUSTIN, Texas - Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Thursday signed a law protecting Christmas and other holiday celebrations in Texas public schools from legal challenges — but also stressed that freedom of religion is not the same thing as freedom from religion.

It was a serious tone for an otherwise fun bill-signing and should bolster the governor's Christian conservative credentials before he travels to Washington for the Faith & Freedom Coalition's "Road to Majority" conference.

PARIS - Actress Scarlett Johansson is suing a French publishing house over a novel that uses her name and image and explores the challenges of being beautiful.

The JC Lattes publishing house said Friday that a lawsuit was filed last week about Gregoire Delacourt's book "The First Thing We Look At."

JC Lattes spokeswoman Emmanuelle Allibert says the publisher's lawyers are preparing to respond to the court, which will then decide whether to take up the case.

WASHINGTON - The director of the National Security Agency told Congress that information collected by once-secret U.S. surveillance programs disrupted dozens of terrorist attacks, while the young man who leaked documents to expose the programs declared from Hong Kong, "I am not here to hide from justice."

The NSA director, Army Gen. Keith Alexander, was set to address the Senate Intelligence Committee in closed session on Thursday.

WASHINGTON - The director of the National Security Agency vigorously defended once-secret surveillance programs as an effective tool in keeping the U.S. safe, telling Congress that the information collected disrupted dozens of terrorist attacks without offering details.

LONDON - Britain's spy agencies will face a criminal investigation into claims that intelligence shared with Moammar Gadhafi's regime led to the torture or rendition of two Libyan men and their families, authorities announced Thursday.

DAMASCUS, Syria - Syrian President Bashar Assad joined thousands of his supporters Wednesday in an extremely rare public appearance, telling a pro-regime rally in the capital that the "conspiracy" against his country will fail.

Dressed more casually than usual in a jacket but no tie, the president told the cheering crowd that he wanted to draw strength from them. Security guards surrounded him as supporters waved his portrait and raised Syrian flags.