NEWS IN BRIEF

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky has lost a legal battle to restore his $4,900-a-month pension, a benefit that was canceled two years ago after he was sentenced for child molestation.

The State Employees’ Retirement Board’s 122-page opinion, made public Friday, determined Sandusky remained a Penn State employee after his announced retirement in 1999, meaning his abuse of children fell under a 2004 state law that added sexual offenses against students to the crimes that trigger forfeiture. Sandusky attorney Chuck Benjamin said he planned to file a challenge to the decision in court.

“All I can say at this point is we’re looking forward to litigating the revocation of the pension in court,” Benjamin said. “That’s the next step of this process. We’ve exhausted our administrative remedies, and now we’ll be filing papers within the next 30 days in court.”

Australian woman arrested in deaths

SYDNEY — An Australian woman was arrested for murder in the killings of eight children, seven of whom are believed to be her own, police said Saturday. The children were found dead inside the woman’s home.

The 37-year-old woman, who is recovering in a hospital from stab wounds, was under guard and speaking with police, Queensland Police Detective Inspector Bruno Asnicar said. She has not yet been charged. Police haven’t said how the children died. But Asnicar said they’re examining several knives in the home that may have been the weapon used to kill them. The children ranged in age from 18 months to 14 years, Asnicar said. The woman is thought to be the mother of seven of the children. The eighth is believed to be her niece.