Conspiracy

Danish authorities in the city of Aarhus arrested three people suspected of plotting a cartoonist's assassination for his depiction of the prophet Muhammad wearing a bomb-shaped turban, which enraged Muslims two years ago. Newspaper Jyllands-Posten said the cartoonist was Kurt Westergaard. Three of Denmark's largest newspapers said they would reprint the cartoon today to show they would not be intimidated by fanatics. It was one of 12 Muhammad cartoons published in 2005 and then again in 2006 that led to protests.

In his inaugural address this week, President Lee Myung-bak used the story of his own escape from poverty to urge fellow South Koreans to "work hard to realize their dreams." He recalled how, as "a boy from the countryside who could not even eat regular meals," he rose to become a successful businessman and eventually won the top job in the land. But in recent years there has been a quicker way to get rich in South Korea: real estate speculation.

They plucked the destitute off the street as "investments," insured their lives for millions, then snuffed them out in staged hit-and-run accidents. They became so consumed by greed that they bickered over the money even after their arrests. At least that's how prosecutors Tuesday outlined their case against Helen Golay and Olga Rutterschmidt in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

It wasn't the typical murder weapon viewing. Jurors had to squat, kneel and even lie on their stomachs to get a good look at the instrument that two septuagenarian women allegedly used to kill a homeless man to collect his life insurance. Prosecutors say the 1999 Mercury Sable station wagon killed Kenneth McDavid. It was taken to the basement of the courthouse Friday as part of their weeklong attempt to tie the vehicle to Helen Golay, 77, and Olga Rutterschmidt, 75.

A native of Cambodia unleashed an attack to overthrow the government of that country, but the plot failed when only 200 supporters showed up to fight in the capital city of Phnom Phen, a prosecutor told jurors Wednesday. In his opening trial statement, Assistant U.S. Atty. Lamar Baker said defendant Yasith Chhun -- a Long Beach accountant -- was willing to risk other people's lives as part of the effort in 2000 dubbed "Operation Volcano." Baker portrayed Chhun, 52, as callous, cowardly and incompetent and promised he would take jurors inside the conspiracy with testimony from officers who led the attack and are now serving prison terms in Cambodia for their involvement.

U.S. District Judge Joan A. Lenard ordered jurors in Miami to keep deliberating after they announced a second time that they were deadlocked in the retrial of six men accused of scheming to blow up Chicago's Sears Tower and bomb FBI offices. Lenard refused a defense request for a mistrial.

The controversial terrorism prosecution of six South Florida men again ended in uncertainty Wednesday after the second jury selected to hear the case became so divided over the evidence that it could not agree on any verdicts. Weary prosecutors gave no immediate indication whether the government would try the case a third time.

A man who planned attacks on military installations and synagogues in the Los Angeles area for an Islamic terrorist cell was sentenced Monday to 22 years in federal prison for conspiring to wage war against the United States. Levar Haney Washington told a federal judge in Santa Ana that cell members "flirted with the possibility" of attacking targets but no longer believe "a military solution is possible" because "it belies reality."

A reputed Gambino crime family captain has admitted that he ran a multimillion-dollar gambling ring, one of a slate of charges against a man authorities say helped run the once-powerful mob empire. Nicholas "Little Nicky" Corozzo, 68, pleaded guilty in state court to enterprise corruption, the Queens district attorney's office said. He still faces murder, extortion, money laundering and bookmaking charges in a federal case. Authorities say Corozzo was a Gambino insider close to infamous boss John Gotti.

A hearing on a defense motion to dismiss murder and conspiracy charges against a Japanese national accused in his wife's 1981 slaying in downtown Los Angeles ended Friday without a ruling. Torrance Superior Court Judge Steven Van Sicklen continued the case against Kazuyoshi Miura, now 61, who was found guilty of his wife's murder in Japan in 1994, but was later acquitted. Mark Geragos, who is representing Miura, argued that his client can't be tried for the crime in the United States without unconstitutionally placing him in double jeopardy.