A French court today convicted Continental Airlines and one of its mechanics for on involuntary manslaughter charges related to the 2000 crash of an Air France Concorde jet, The Associated Press reports.

The court ordered Continental to pay Air France $1.43 million for damages to Air France's reputation and an additional fine of $265,000. CNN says "mechanic John Taylor received a fine of 2,000 euros ($2,656) and a 15-month suspended prison sentence for involuntary manslaughter."

The crash of the Air France Concorde killed all 109 people on board and four on the ground.

AP writes "the presiding judge confirmed investigators' long-held belief that titanium debris dropped by a Continental DC-10 onto the runway at Charles de Gaulle airport before the supersonic jet took off on July 25, 2000, was to blame."

The New York Times says "a 2002 report by French air accident investigators concluded that a small strip of metal had fallen off a Continental DC-10 that took off minutes earlier and that the piece punctured a tire of the Concorde as it accelerated down the runway on July 25, 2000. The tire disintegrated in seconds, investigators said, sending shards of rubber into the fuel tanks and causing a catastrophic fire."

A federal appeals court is set to hear arguments on whether California's same-sex marriage ban is constitutional in a hearing to be televised nationally.

The three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco will hear arguments Monday on Proposition 8. A trial court judge overturned the voter-approved ban as a violation of gay Californians' civil rights in August.

The panel will first consider if the group that put the measure on the ballot is eligible to appeal since its members aren't responsible for enforcing marriage laws. Outgoing Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown refused to challenge the ruling.

The panel will then hear arguments on the proposition's constitutionality.

The court-appointed trustee liquidating Bernard Madoff's former investment firm has filed a lawsuit against HSBC for $9 billion for allegedly aiding the most massive Ponzi scheme in history.

The trustee, Irving Picard, alleged that London-based HSBC Holdings PLC (HBC) enabled Madoff's fraud "through the creation, marketing and support of an international network of a dozen feeder funds based in Europe, the Caribbean, and Central America," in a statement released Sunday.

He claimed that HSBC and the feeder funds funneled more than $8.9 billion to Madoff's fraudulent investment advisory business, and earned hundreds of billions of dollars despite being "well aware" of the fraud after accounting firm KPMG twice notified the bank of "serious risks."

"Had HSBC and the defendants reacted appropriately to such warnings and other obvious badges of fraud outlined in the complaint, the Madoff Ponzi scheme would have collapsed years, billions of dollars, and countless victims sooner," Picard said in the statement.

David Sheehan, counsel for the trustee, said HSBC and the feeder funds' "financial sophistication" gave them insight to Madoff's scheme "long before his confession and arrest," but "each possessed a strong financial incentive to participate in, perpetuate and stay silent about Madoff's fraudulent scheme."

The Mountain States Legal Foundation has built a reputation as an influential behind-the-scenes player over the years on conservative legal causes.

It has waged battles against affirmative action and protections for endangered species while being bankrolled by some of the most powerful families in the West.

The group is now fighting a protracted legal battle with American Indians who believe the organization is trampling on their voting rights in a rural Wyoming county.

At issue is a local dispute over the election of county commissioners in Fremont County. Mountain States Legal Foundation has been representing the county pro bono for the last five years in a fight against American Indians who want greater representation on the commission.

That Mountain States has waded into such a local dispute further demonstrates the clout it seeks to wield in Western legal disputes, in this case arguing first that the Voting Rights Act of 1965 didn't apply to Indians in Fremont CountyFailing at that, it's now arguing on appeal that a federal judge can't order the county to create separate commission districts.

Federal tax records show that the organization's supporters in recent years have included foundations controlled by the Coors brewing family in Colorado and Philip F. Anschutz, a reclusive Denver billionaire with extensive holdings in railroads, energy and communications.

A Martinsburg woman has admitted lying to a federal grand jury during an investigation of a law firm where she worked as the office manager.

U.S. Attorney William Ihlenfeld II said Wednesday that 52-year-old Nancy Burkhart pleaded guilty Monday to one perjury count.

Burkhart admitted giving false testimony to the grand jury in 2006 during a federal and state investigation of billings submitted by the firm to the state Public Defenders Service. Burkhart testified that she didn't know anything about a missing computer server, which she had helped a lawyer remove from the office.

Gov. Chris Christie approved a law firm with expertise in federal transit issues to help challenge a $271 million tab the federal government says the state owes for a canceled rail tunnel.

Christie's office said the governor had signed off Thursday on the selection of the Washington, D.C., firm of Patton Boggs. Rodney Slater, who served as U.S. transportation secretary under President Bill Clinton, and former Republican U.S. Sen. Trent Lott are among the partners.

"We're delighted to have been engaged by the state," said Stuart Pape, the firm's managing partner. The firm, which has an office in Newark, is assessing its strategy, Pape said.

Christie killed the $8.7 billion tunnel from New Jersey to New York City on Oct. 27, citing potential cost overruns that he said could add $2 billion to $5 billion or more to the price.

The federal government and Port Authority of New York and New Jersey each contributed $3 billion to the project, while New Jersey's share was $2.7 billion. The state and Port Authority were responsible for overruns.

Christie is fighting a bill for the return of federal money already spent on engineering and construction of the tunnel. The Nov. 24 bill from the Federal Transit Authority seeks payment within 30 days.

"It's not surprising that the same federal transit agency that had no clear way to pay for cost overruns of a project already hurt by poor planning and inequitable cost sharing is relying on bureaucratic power plays to wring even more money out of New Jerseyans," Christie said in a statement Thursday.