A Spanish court has upheld a ban by a city on face-covering Islamic veils worn in municipal buildings.

In 2010, the city of Lleida became the first Spanish one to impose such a ban. But the Catalan regional Superior Justice Tribunal suspended it following an appeal by a Muslim association that claimed it violated basic rights.

The court ruled Wednesday that the northeastern city was within its rights to ban the clothing in municipal buildings for security and identification purposes. It also backed Lleida's argument that the veils are discriminatory.

Other Spanish towns have taken similar steps but their burqa bans have yet to take effect.

Lleida's one is largely symbolic since only about 3 percent of Lleida's population is Muslim and very few wear face-covering garments.

An ex-pediatrician accused of raping and sexually assaulting scores of his young patients over a decade will await a judge's decision after a one-day trial in which the graphic testimony moved women to tears and drove others from the courtroom.

Prosecutors on Tuesday presented their case against Earl Bradley to a judge in southern Delaware, just miles from his former office in Lewes. Witnesses painted the 58-year-old, gray-bearded former doctor as a predator who covertly videotaped naked patients during exams and who raped young victims or forced them to perform oral sex.

"The rapes were violent, they were brutal," state police Detective Scott Garland testified. "... The violence we were seeing was significant, and beyond anything I had ever witnessed. Nothing had prepared me for it."

Prosecutors gave Sussex County Superior Judge William Carpenter Jr. hours of graphic video evidence to review, recorded by Bradley himself, documenting the abuse. On the tapes are a total of 86 victims dating to 1998, prosecutors said. All but one were young girls with an average age of 3.

If convicted, Bradley could face life in prison for each of the 14 rape charges against him. He also is charged with assault and sexual exploitation of a child.

The Senate has confirmed White House lawyer Donald Verrilli Jr. to succeed Justice Elena Kagan as U.S. solicitor general.

With the 72-16 vote, Verrilli will fill a post that has been vacant since the Senate voted Kagan to her Supreme Court seat last August. The solicitor general represents the executive branch of government before the Supreme Court.

President Barack Obama named Verrilli as Kagan's successor last January. A month ago, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved the nominee by a 17-1 vote.

Verilli has most recently served as a deputy counsel to Obama. He previously worked at the Justice Department as an associate deputy attorney general.

The New Jersey Supreme Court says people posting in online message boards don't have the same protections for sources as mainstream journalists.

The court ruled Tuesday that New Jersey's shield law for journalists does not apply to such message boards.

The case involved a New Jersey-based software company named Too Much Media. It sued a Washington state blogger for defamation and wanted her to reveal sources she cited on message board posts.

Shellee Hale claimed customer information was compromised and that she should be protected from revealing her sources.

New Jersey's highest court says online message boards are little more than forums for discussion and don't fit the definition of news media as described by the law.

Graphic images of dead people flashed across courtroom televisions as the victims' families looked on, weeping and consoling one another. Some had to leave to collect themselves.

For the first time since the nine victims were killed in 2005 and 2006, the man accused of the crimes is on trial for murder. The prosecution and defense delivered their dramatic opening statements Monday in the trial against Mark Goudeau, who is accused of being the so-called Baseline Killer.

Goudeau, 46, is also accused of dozens of other crimes, including rape and child molestation. His trial is expected to last nine months, with testimony resuming Tuesday.

Goudeau has pleaded not guilty. If convicted of murder, he could face the death penalty.

Prosecutor Suzanne Cohen told jurors that Goudeau was driven by a hunger to rape, and the victims who didn't cooperate were shot point-blank in the head.

"Beware of the predator that comes to you wrapped in sheep's clothing because he is a ravenous wolf," Cohen said. "Mark Goudeau is that ravenous wolf, and you shall know him by his deeds."

Cohen said "the only thing that matched his hunger to rape was his determination to not get caught and not be sitting in this chair."

"Those innocents did nothing wrong but cross his path while he was hunting," she said.

In his opening statement, defense attorney Randall Craig said there was a serious lack of DNA evidence in the case, and he questioned the integrity of the investigation.