Republicans and Democrats have begun bracing for the upcoming battle over who will replace Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor after she announced her retirement from the court Friday. The debate is expected to be over a likely list of candidates including federal appellate judges John Roberts, Michael Luttig,, Harvie Wilkinson , Attorney General Alberto [...]

Iraq UN ambassador Samir Sumaida'ie has accused US Marines of shooting to death his 21-year old cousin Mohammed al-Sumaida'ie during a raid of his father's house in Haditha, a city in Iraq's western Anbar province that has been a focus of recent US security operations . In a three-page statement released Friday, Sumaida'ie said the [...]

A White House spokesman acknowledged Friday that the administration had so far turned up no evidence to support allegations that Iranian president-elect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad played a role of the 1979 Iranian takeover of the US embassy in Tehran. Ahmadinejad was elected president just over one week ago amidst reports by former US hostages that he [...]

Leading Friday's corporations and securities news, the White House Friday formally filed papers with the Senate for the nomination of Congressman Christopher Cox as new Chairman of the SEC. Cox, a Republican from California, was informally tabbed early last month. The filing follows former SEC Chairman William Donaldson's formal resignation yesterday. Cox's remarks at the [...]

Leading Friday's states brief, a North Carolina Supreme Court ruling today expanded the number of civil penalties which properly belong to school districts under the state constitution . The court upheld most of a 2003 court of appeals decision and expanded the list of civil penalties that should benefit public education to include late and [...]

For the first time Friday, a senior American military official publicly confirmed abuse of detainees and prisoners by Iraqi security forces. Major General David Rodriguez said in a briefing for Pentagon reporters from Iraq that in the last six to eight weeks there have been approximately forty cases of detainee abuse and that US troops [...]

The former head of investment banking at Merrill Lynch who was convicted last year in connection with Enron's bogus sale of power barges, will report to a low security federal prison in Hopewell, Virginia on July 14 to serve his two and a half year sentence , a judge ruled Friday. Daniel Bayly will be [...]

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi promised Friday that an investigation into allegations of fraud in the May 15 election, which left Zenawi in power, would be "totally transparent and fair." Zenawi said the investigation, which includes international observers, shows his Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) is committed to fairness. Police killed 36 people and [...]

The Turkish parliament has re-approved amendments to the country's new European Union oriented penal code, overriding an earlier veto by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer . The new code includes the first major changes to Turkish law in 79 years and is intended to liberalize that law in order to help the nation's chances of joining [...]

Leading Friday's international brief, the UN Security Council discussed the worsening housing crisis in Zimbabwe during Thursday's session, with several members expressing their reluctance to consider the issue. The British and acting US ambassadors to the UN both expressed concern with the fallout from "Operation Restore Order", which has resulted in over 46,000 arrests of [...]