PHOENIX (AP) — Officials agreed Wednesday to pay $3.5 million to settle a lawsuit that alleged metro Phoenix's sheriff botched the investigation into the rape of a 13-year-old girl and failed to arrest the suspect who then went on to sexually attack her again.

The girl's rape case was among more than 400 sex-crime cases that were inadequately investigated or not looked into at all by Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's office over a three-year period ending in 2007.

The decision to resolve the lawsuit by the girl's guardians marks the latest in a long string of legal settlements against Arpaio's office. The county had previously paid more than $68 million in judgments, settlements and legal fees for the sheriff's office during Arpaio's 22-year tenure. Some settlements resolved lawsuits filed over the treatment of inmates in Arpaio's jails and the sheriff's failed corruption investigations of political foes.

The settlement Wednesday applies only to the lawsuit over the 13-year-old girl, who eventually got an abortion after she became pregnant from a subsequent attack. It's unknown whether other victims in the botched investigations have filed similar lawsuits.

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Arpaio, through a spokeswoman, declined an interview request. Spokeswoman Lisa Allen said the police agency agrees with the decision by county officials to resolve the lawsuit. "Today, this matter concludes and our hope is that the money awarded will go to a trust fund providing this victim with the help she requires now and in the future," Allen said in a statement.

The botched sex-crimes investigations served as an embarrassment for Arpaio, who promotes himself as "America's Toughest Sheriff" and eventually reopened the more than 400 of its sex-crime cases. The sheriff apologized in December 2011 for the bungled cases, and his office has since said it has moved to clear up the cases and taken steps to prevent the problem from happening again.

An internal review attributed the failures to understaffing and mismanagement. A former supervisor says her investigators were pulled away from time to time to help with training efforts and Arpaio's immigrant-smuggling squad.

The lawsuit by the 13-year-old girl's guardians alleged that the subsequent attacks on the girl could have been avoided if Arpaio's office arrested the suspect after he first abused her in March 2007 and threatened to kill her if she reported the allegations.

The sheriff's office responded to the initial rape allegation after it was revealed to officials at her school a day after the attack. A sheriff's deputy interviewed the girl, who underwent a forensic exam to seek evidence of rape, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit said crime lab officials told the sheriff's office less than two weeks after the attack that it needed a blood sample from the suspect, whose identity was known to investigators.

Instead, the lawsuit alleged the sheriff's office did nothing to push the investigation forward for more than three years. During that time, the suspect continued his sexual attacks on the girl, leading to her pregnancy, which was aborted in 2009, the lawsuit said.

The girl's case was reopened in June 2011, leading to the suspect's arrest. In the end, he pleaded guilty to one count of child molestation and two counts of attempted child molestation and was sentenced to 24 years in prison.

Paris (AFP) - France's TV5Monde television channel was forced to shelve its regular programming Thursday after falling victim to an "unprecedented" hack by self-proclaimed Islamic State militants, who also hijacked its website and social networks.

The Paris-based company, whose programmes are broadcast in more than 200 countries worldwide, was the target of a cyber-attack that is "unprecedented for us and unprecedented in the history of television," TV5Monde boss Yves Bigot told AFP.

By 5:00pm (1500 GMT), the channel was able to broadcast only pre-recorded programmes but had regained control of its website, where the front page declared "TV5Monde has been hit in the heart."

"When you work in television... and you find out that your 11 channels are down, of course that's one of the most dreadful things that can happen to you," Bigot said.

The hackers took control of the station and its social media operations late Wednesday.

By seizing the IT system, they were able to black out the TV channels for several hours.

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An image grab taken on April 9, 2015 from a video on TV5Monde Facebook account shows a message that …

The self-styled cyberjihadists also posted documents on its Facebook page purporting to be the identity cards and CVs of relatives of French soldiers involved in anti-IS operations, along with threats against the troops.

"Soldiers of France, stay away from the Islamic State! You have the chance to save your families, take advantage of it," read one message on TV5Monde's Facebook page.

"The CyberCaliphate continues its cyberjihad against the enemies of Islamic State," the message added.

The defence ministry in Paris said it was working to verify whether the documents were genuine.

- 'Emergency programme' -

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TV5Monde general director Yves Bigot makes an announcement after the French television network was h …

TV5Monde regained control of its social networks by 2:00 am Thursday but television broadcasts were likely to take hours, if not days, to return to normal. The attack would have required weeks of preparation, Bigot added.

"We are putting out an emergency programme so that we're not left with a black screen. We don't have emails. The whole IT system is down," TV5Monde's human resources director, Jean Corneil, told AFP.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said the hack was an "unacceptable attack on the freedom of information and expression", voicing "total solidarity with the editorial staff."

Senior government members flocked to the station to show their support, with Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve saying: "We are up against determined terrorists ... we are determined to fight them."

Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said: "Everything is being done to find those who carried this out, punish them, re-establish the programmes and prevent cyberterrorists threatening freedom of expression in the future."

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French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve (L) and Culture minister Fleur Pellerin talk to the press …

Culture Minister Fleur Pellerin called a meeting of top French media chiefs to discuss the attack.

The hackers had accused French President Francois Hollande of committing "an unforgivable mistake" by getting involved in "a war that serves no purpose".

"That's why the French received the gifts of Charlie Hebdo and Hyper Cacher in January," it said on the broadcaster's Facebook page, referring to attacks by Islamist gunmen in Paris on the satirical magazine and Jewish supermarket that left 17 people dead.

France is part of a US-led military coalition carrying out air strikes against IS in Iraq and Syria, where the jihadist group has seized swathes of territory and declared an Islamic "caliphate".

Close to 1,500 French nationals have left France to join the militants' ranks in Iraq and Syria, where they represent almost half the number of European fighters present, according to a report released Wednesday by the French Senate.

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An image grab taken on April 9, 2015 from a video on TV5Monde Facebook account shows a message that …

- 'Knights of the media' -

Jihadists have become increasingly adept at using the Internet to spread propaganda and attack media outlets.

In February, the Twitter feed of Newsweek was briefly hacked and threats were made against US President Barack Obama's family.

And in the immediate aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo attacks, hackers claiming to be Islamists hijacked hundreds of French websites, flooding them with jihadist propaganda.

Just hours before the attack, the Islamic State extremist group had published a video praising their "knights of the media" carrying out cyber-attacks and urged them to step up their efforts.

"This is certainly a step up," said Gilbert Ramsay, an expert on cyberjihadism at St. Andrews University in Scotland.

"For years now, low-level cyber attacks have been a routine part of Islamist mobilisation. They have published manuals on how to hack websites. But this is an escalation," added the expert.

Loic Guezo, a strategic director at Trend Micro, an IT security firm, said that "halting broadcasting for several hours is pretty much a world first."

Aden (AFP) - Washington warned Thursday it would not stand by while Tehran supports rebels in Yemen, as Iran's supreme leader denounced Saudi-led air strikes as "criminal acts".

In the most direct American criticism yet of Tehran's backing for the Shiite Huthi rebels, Secretary of State John Kerry said Washington would not accept foreign interference in Yemen.

"There have been -- there are, obviously -- flights coming from Iran. Every single week there are flights from Iran and we've traced it and know this," Kerry told PBS television.

"Iran needs to recognise that the United States is not going to stand by while the region is destabilised or while people engage in overt warfare across lines, international boundaries in other countries."

Washington has backed the air campaign which begin last month as the rebels advanced on Yemen's main southern city of Aden after seizing Sanaa.

Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned that the campaign against the Huthis must end.

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Smoke rises from the Faj Attan Hill area of the Yemeni capital Sanaa, on April 9, 2015, following an …

"This move is not acceptable in the region and I would warn that they must stop these criminal acts in Yemen," he said on his website.

President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi fled Aden for Saudi Arabia during the Huthi advance and the city has since seen heavy clashes between pro- and anti-government forces.

Riyadh has accused Tehran, the major Shiite power, of backing the rebels in a bid to establish a pro-Iran state on its doorstep.

- 'Children in battle' -

But Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif insisted Tehran wanted a swift end to the fighting which has killed more than 640 people since March 19, according to the World Health Organization.

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Yemeni supporters of the southern seperatist movement fire towards Huthi rebels during clashes in th …

The UN children's agency warned Thursday that around 30 percent of fighters in Yemen's armed groups were minors.

"We are seeing children in battle, at checkpoints and unfortunately among (those) killed and injured," Julien Harneis, UNICEF's representative in Yemen, told AFP during a stop in Geneva.

Kerry, after world powers agreed a framework deal with Iran on its nuclear programme, said Washington was not looking for confrontation.

"But we're not going to step away from our alliances and our friendships and the need to stand with those who feel threatened as a consequence of the choices that Iran might be making."

In another sign of growing US support for the Saudi effort, the Pentagon said it had started aerial refuelling for coalition aircraft.

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US Secretary of State John Kerry speaks during a press conference with Algerian Foreign Minister Ram …

Overnight air strikes killed at least 14 rebels near Aden's northern edge, a source in pro-government forces told AFP.

On Thursday, witnesses heard three explosions as coalition aircraft attacked the defence ministry building in Sanaa.

Norwegian media reported that a 28-year-old journalist named as Raymond Lidal has been held in Sanaa since late March and accused of spying after failing to show a journalist's visa while filming air strikes against the Huthis.

An official in Aden said air strikes also hit a military camp in the southern Shabwa province held by the Huthis' main allies, forces who have remained loyal to former strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh who was ousted in 2012 after an Arab Spring-inspired uprising.

There was no information on casualties.

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Armed Yemeni supporters of the separatist Southern Movement assemble in the southern port city of Ad …

Afterwards, the troops deployed in nearby Ataq city and raised Huthi flags, military sources said.

Since Saleh's ouster, Hadi has been unable to assert government authority in a deeply divided tribal country.

- Diplomatic efforts -

As well as the Huthis, from north Yemen, the government has struggled against Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), considered the most dangerous branch of the jihadist network.

Yemen for years allowed Washington to wage a drone war against AQAP, but US forces pulled out amid the latest unrest.

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A Yemeni child receives treatment on April 1, 2015, at the burns unit of a hospital in Sanaa, follow …

Al-Qaeda has taken advantage of the chaos to seize some areas and also launch deadly attacks on both government forces and the Huthis.

Concern has been growing for what aid workers say is a mounting humanitarian crisis.

Some aid trickled in to Aden by ship on Wednesday but efforts by the International Committee of the Red Cross to organise cargo flights into Sanaa have so far failed.

In Aden, witnesses have said the situation is dire, with bodies lying in the streets.

Diplomatic efforts have stepped up to resolve the conflict, with the Iranian and Pakistani foreign ministers pledging at talks in Islamabad on Wednesday to work towards finding a negotiated solution.

Zarif laid out a four-stage plan for talks, calling for an immediate ceasefire followed by humanitarian assistance, dialogue among Yemenis and creation of an "all-inclusive government".

Turkish media quoted President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Thursday as calling for a regional effort to end the fighting.

"Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Iran should be involved in efforts for a diplomatic solution," he said.

EXCLUSIVE - Islamic State militants are demanding up to $30 million in ransom to release the hundreds of Christian hostages in Syria, according to an officer within the Assyrian leadership.

In ongoing negotiations between ISIS terrorists and the Assyrian leadership to free the 250-300 Christians abducted by the militant group in February, ISIS is demanding $100,000 per individual, according to the source.

Third-party Syrian Sunni Muslims from the local area are reported to be brokering the talks between the two groups.

“They know we cannot come up with this kind of money, so they are hoping other groups and countries will come up with the money,” the official said.

A total of 23 hostages have been released to date, while the rest remain in ISIS custody after a Feb. 23 attack on villages in the northern province of al Hasakah.

The reason for those releases was not known, but according to some of the freed hostages, they were prohibited from going back to their homes in Syria and instead told to leave the country.

The Feb. 23 attack was a coordinated raid on 35 Assyrian villages in the Hasaka province, an area where the native Christian community thrived for generations.

Nine Assyrian fighters were killed attempting to defend their villages.

In late January, there were similar reports of a raid by the Islamic State on the same area,and threats to bomb churches if crosses were not removed.

The Islamic State has desecrated churches and Christian graveyards in wholesale fashion in both Iraq and Syria.

Reports at the time indicated the Islamic State was using its Christian hostages as human shields in military confrontations.

ISIS militants transported large groups of Christian captives to areas of intense fighting against Kurdish and Christian militias as they continue to battle for strategic areas along the northeastern Syrian border, according to state-run media.

The Islamic State has long targeted Christian communities in the region, at first warning them to convert to Islam or pay aJizya, a minority tax, and later abducting individuals and desecrating ancient landmarks and artifacts.

On Easter Sunday, ISIS blew up Church of the Virgin Mary in Tal Nasri village, an 80-year-old cathedral in the same Syrian province.

Lisa Daftari is a Fox News contributor specializing in Middle Eastern affairs.

Man kills judge, two others on rampage through Milan courthouse

Police said Claudio Giardiello shot the judge, Fernando Ciampi, in his office, having earlier opened fire in a courtroom killing a lawyer and his co-defendant in a bankruptcy trial. A fourth person was wounded.

In all, Giardiello fired 13 shots inside the Palace of Justice in central Milan before fleeing, police said. They arrested him in Vimercate, a town north of Italy's financial centre, Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said on his twitter feed.

Public security was tightened across Italy following January's Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris, and it was not immediately clear how the assailant was able to carry a gun into the court buildings.

Milan chief prosecutor Edmondo Bruti Liberati told reporters the attacker likely carried a false identification badge and entered through a side entrance reserved for lawyers and court employees, where there is no metal detector.

Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said the priority was to ensure nothing similar ever happened again.

"We need to find out exactly what happened and above all how it was possible to take a firearm into a courthouse," he told a news conference in Rome.

"This is not the first time this has happened but obviously it must be the last. The government has given a powerful mandate to expose the systemic failings which evidently happened."

The court buildings are just half a mile (1 km) from Milan's cathedral, its biggest tourist attraction. Police vans and an ambulance were parked outside the cordoned-off buildings and the street was closed to traffic.

The debate about security is also likely to focus on the Milan Expo opening on May 1. The city is hosting the global showcase of culture and technology, which will run for six months, for the first time in more than a hundred years.

Authorities said initial reports that a fourth person had been found dead in the court buildings were incorrect.

"I heard a series of shots, I threw myself in the first office I could find and I thought I was going to have a panic attack," Massimilano Monti, who works for a legal office inside the court, said.

(Additional reporting by Emilio Parodi and Stephen Jewkes; Writing by Silvia Aloisi; Editing by John Stonestreet)