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Updated: September 5, 2012 - 11:00 PM

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california

NASA craft heads for dwarf planet

NASA said the Dawn spacecraft is journeying to its next destination after spending a year at a giant asteroid. The space agency said it received a signal from the craft confirming that it had left the asteroid Vesta and was cruising toward the dwarf planet Ceres in the asteroid belt, where it will arrive in 2015. The mission is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Homeless possessions protected, court rules

Cities are barred by the U.S. Constitution from randomly seizing and destroying property the homeless temporarily leave unattended on city streets, a federal appeals court ruled. Upholding a court order against Los Angeles, a panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled 2-1 that the personal possessions the homeless leave for a short time on city sidewalks may be taken only if the possessions pose an immediate threat to public safety or health or involve criminal evidence.

PENNSYLVANIA

Penn State is out $16.8M in sex scandal

Penn State University spent about $16.8 million through June 30 on legal fees, consultants and public relations experts dealing with the Jerry Sandusky child sex-abuse case, according to a post on a university website. About $6.5 million of that paid for an independent investigation by former FBI Director Louis Freeh's firm. The university will also have to pay a $60 million fine levied by the NCAA and what many lawyers expect will be millions of dollars more to Sandusky's victims.

COSTA RICA

Quake causes panic but no major damage

A magnitude-7.6 earthquake shook Costa Rica and a wide swath of Central America, collapsing some houses, blocking highways with debris and causing panic and at least one death from a heart attack. But Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla announced there were no reports of major damage and called for calm. The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake's epicenter was 87 miles west of the capital, San Jose, where frightened people ran into the streets. The quake was somewhat deep -- 25 miles below the surface.

LIBYA

Mauritania extradites Gadhafi's spy chief

Moammar Gadhafi's intelligence chief, Abdullah al-Senussi, was extradited to Libya by Mauritania after months of diplomatic pleading and pressure, handing a victory to the new Tripoli government in an international tug of war over the chance to put him on trial on murder and war crimes charges. Mauritania arrested Al-Senussi in March as he sought to evade attempts by the Libyans, the French and the International Criminal Court to bring him to trial for suspected human rights abuses and acts of international terrorism.

CHINA

Former police chief charged in scandal

Wang Lijun, a former police chief who sought refuge at a U.S. consulate in Sichuan Province early this year, was formally charged with defection, abuse of power and bribe-taking. Wang's flight to the consulate revealed the underside of Chinese officialdom as he spilled an unbelievable tale of murder, accusing Gu Kailai, the wife of Politburo member Bo Xilai, of poisoning a British business associate. Bo was ousted from his party posts; Gu was convicted last month of the murder. Wang allegedly knew of the murder plans beforehand.

ISRAEL

Netanyahu cancels meeting after leak

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu abruptly canceled a meeting of his Security Cabinet, saying information was leaked from the highly confidential deliberations about Iran's nuclear program. Netanyahu made the announcement after the widely read newspaper Yediot Ahronot reported that someone participating in the first session of the meeting on Tuesday had said there was no agreement among security officials "about the point at which Israel's ability to damage the Iranian nuclear program loses its effectiveness."

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