In hopes of finding clues about his 1955 murder , FBI personnel Wednesday began unearthing a concrete vault containing the remains of Emmett Till . FBI spokesman Frank Bochte said that the reason for exhumation was to dispel rumors that the body was not that of Emmett Till and to hopefully find clues to provide [...]

Bloomberg is reporting that US Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman William Donaldson is stepping down on June 30. 3:15 PM ET – The SEC has posted a press release detailing the departure of Donaldson later this month.

The European Union began assessing proposals Wednesday from Microsoft Corp. meant to comply with a massive March 2004 antitrust ruling . The proposal came in just before the midnight deadline Tuesday and the EU competition commission is expected to take a few weeks to fully analyze the documents due to the large amount of paperwork [...]

AP is reporting that United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has fired suspended UN staffer Joseph Stephanides for his role in the UN oil-for-food scandal . 1:25 PM ET – Stephanides is the first UN staffer to be fired in the scandal. An AP story is now available here.

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced on Tuesday that Iraq has officially asked for UN help in drafting a new permanent constitution . Annan acknowledged a letter from Hajim N. Al-Hasani, president of Iraq's Transitional National Assembly, asking for assistance to ensure that a new constitution is in place by August 15, leading to elections [...]

Protestors clashed with 200 members of rival groups in front of the Kyrgyzstan Supreme Court on Wednesday, throwing sticks and flogging each other with horse-whips. The instigators, who arrived in buses from the North, stormed the court to evict protestors from the South, who had occupied the Supreme Court building on April 22, following a [...]

Two US citizens accused of conspiring to support al-Qaida were denied bail on Tuesday in separate federal courts. Tarik Shah of New York and Dr. Rafik Abdus of Florida were both arrested in a government sting operation Friday. Shah allegedly promised to train terrorists in hand-to-hand combat while Abdus is believed to have agreed to [...]

After assurances from her lawyer that she would attend a scheduled September trial in Serbia on abuse of power charges, Serbian authorities have cancelled an international arrest warrant for Mirjana Markovic , the wife of former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic . Markovic is said to have fled to Russia in 2003 to avoid the charges. [...]

Citizens of the Netherlands went to the polls Wednesday to vote on whether to accept the proposed European Constitution . Recent opinion surveys say that nearly 60% of Dutch voters plan to reject the document, citing concerns such as discontent with the Dutch government, rising prices following introduction of the Euro, fears of being engulfed [...]

Florida Governor Jeb Bush Tuesday signed into law House Bill 1041 , providing for increased state oversight of clinics that provide second-trimester abortions. Bush said the law is about increasing safety standards and does not affect constitutionally protected abortion rights. Opponents say its true goal is to close clinics . Read the Bush press release [...]