world

Supreme Court clashes over physician-assisted suicide

By Alyson Brodsy and Gina Holland · Wednesday, Oct. 5,2005 9:59 p.m.

WASHINGTON -- New Chief Justice John Roberts stepped forward Wednesday as an aggressive defender of federal authority to block doctor-assisted suicide, as the Supreme Court clashed over an Oregon law that lets doctors help terminally ill patients end their lives.

Hurricane Stan strikes Central America

By Alyson Brodsy · Wednesday, Oct. 5,2005 12:38 a.m.

VERACRUZ, Mexico -- Hurricane Stan slammed into Mexico's Gulf coast Tuesday, forcing authorities to close one of the nation's busiest ports and spawning related storms across the region that left at least 59 people dead, most from landslides in El Salvador.

New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin announces up to 3,000 layoffs

By Alyson Brodsy and Amy Forliti · Wednesday, Oct. 5,2005 12:37 a.m.

NEW ORLEANS -- Mayor Ray Nagin said Tuesday the city is laying off as many as 3,000 employees -- or about half its workforce -- because of the financial damage inflicted on New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina.

Bush defends his nominee against conservative doubts

By Alyson Brodsy and Tom Raum · Wednesday, Oct. 5,2005 12:36 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- President Bush pushed back against suggestions by some skeptical Republicans that Harriet Miers was not conservative enough, insisting on Tuesday that his nominee to the Supreme Court shares his strict-constructionist views.

Bush taps counsel for 2nd pick

By Michael Sanserino · Tuesday, Oct. 4,2005 1:29 a.m.

President Bush nominated White House counsel Harriet Miers to the U.S. Supreme Court to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor Monday morning. Bush praised Miers in his speech at the nomination ceremony. "She has devoted her life to the rule of law and the cause of justice. She will be an outstanding addition to the Supreme Court of the United States," he said.

Bloomington reacts to gay ban by Vatican

By Anne Banfich · Tuesday, Oct. 4,2005 1:29 a.m.

A Vatican official last week reaffirmed the belief of the Catholic church that homosexuals cannot be appointed priests, a statement which has drawn outcry across the nation and in Bloomington. The American prelate overseeing the evaluations, Archbishop Edwin O'Brien, said earlier this month that most gay candidates for the priesthood struggle to remain celibate and the church must "stay on the safe side" by restricting their enrollment. He stressed that the church was not "hounding" gays out of the priesthood, but wants to enroll seminarians who can maintain their vows of celibacy.

Actor Nipsey Russel dies

By Alyson Brodsy · Tuesday, Oct. 4,2005 1:29 a.m.

NEW YORK -- Nipsey Russell, who played the Tin Man alongside Diana Ross and Michael Jackson in "The Wiz" as part of a decades-long career in stage, television and film, has died. He was 80. The actor, who had been suffering from cancer, died Sunday afternoon at Lenox Hill Hospital, said his longtime manager Joseph Rapp.

Landslides, heavy rains kill 31 in El Salvador

By Alyson Brodsy · Tuesday, Oct. 4,2005 1:09 a.m.

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador -- Heavy rains triggered landslides that killed at least 31 people in El Salvador on Monday, while rising rivers forced the evacuation of dozens of people there and in neighboring Guatemala. Both countries put their Pacific coasts on alert as a tropical weather front swept over Central America, unleashing downpours and causing principal rivers to overflow.

Grand jury indicts Tom DeLay again on new money laundering charge

By Alyson Brodsy · Monday, Oct. 3,2005 10:41 p.m.

AUSTIN, Texas -- A Texas grand jury on Monday re-indicted Rep. Tom DeLay on charges of conspiring to launder money and money laundering after the former majority leader attacked last week's indictment on technical grounds. The latter charge carries a penalty of up to life in prison. Last week, DeLay was charged with conspiracy to violate campaign finance laws.

Search for Katrina bodies in La. ends with 964 dead

By Alyson Brodsy · Monday, Oct. 3,2005 10:40 p.m.

NEW ORLEANS -- The search for bodies of people killed by Hurricane Katrina has ended in Louisiana, and more searches will be conducted only if someone reports seeing a body, a state official said Monday. All agencies conducting the searches have finished their sweeps for remains. But Kenyon International Emergency Services, the private company hired by the state to remove the bodies, is on call if any other body is found, said Bob Johannessen, a spokesman with the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals.

Indonesia hopes severed heads will ID bombers

By Alyson Brodsy · Monday, Oct. 3,2005 10:40 p.m.

BALI, Indonesia -- Investigators hunting for the masterminds of three suicide bombings on the popular resort island of Bali hoped to quickly identify the bombers by photographs of their severed heads published Monday in Indonesia's newspapers. Police also sought three accomplices believed to still be on the resort island, and enlisted a former operative of Southeast Asia's top terrorist group to help track down the plotters of Saturday's attack. The blasts killed at least 22 people, including the bombers, and wounded 104.

Bush chooses counsel Harriet Miers to replace O'Connor

By Alyson Brodsy and David Espo · Monday, Oct. 3,2005 10:38 p.m.

WASHINGTON -- President Bush named White House counsel Harriet Miers to a Supreme Court in transition Monday, turning to a longtime loyalist without experience as a judge or publicly known views on abortion to succeed Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Miers "will strictly interpret our Constitution and laws. She will not legislate from the bench," the president said as the 60-year-old former private attorney and keeper of campaign secrets stood nearby in the Oval Office.

Bush chooses White House counsel Harriet Miers for Supreme Court

By Alyson Brodsy and Deb Riechmann · Monday, Oct. 3,2005 2:01 p.m.

WASHINGTON -- President Bush nominated White House counsel Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court on Monday, turning to a lawyer who has never been a judge to replace Sandra Day O'Connor and help reshape the nation's judiciary. "She has devoted her life to the rule of law and the cause of justice," Bush said as his first Supreme Court pick, Chief Justice John Roberts, took the bench for the first time just a few blocks from the White House.

Boat carrying tourists capsizes in N.Y., 21 dead

By Alyson Brodsy · Monday, Oct. 3,2005 12:53 a.m.

LAKE GEORGE, N.Y. -- A boat carrying tourists on a senior citizens' cruise overturned Sunday on a lake in upstate New York, killing at least 21 people and sending more than two dozen others to a hospital. Authorities were investigating whether a large passing tour boat created a wake that caused the accident, Warren County Sheriff Larry Cleveland said. The 40-foot, glass-enclosed Ethan Allen capsized about 3 p.m. on Lake George about 50 miles north of Albany in the Adirondack Mountains. The accident apparently happened so fast that none of the passengers were able to put on a life jacket, Cleveland said.

Bush considering nominees for 2nd high court vacancy

By Alyson Brodsy and Deb Riechmann · Monday, Oct. 3,2005 12:51 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- President Bush is watching his first Supreme Court nominee, Chief Justice John Roberts, take the helm of the high court Monday while weighing his options for nominating a second justice who also could shape the bench for years to come. "He's still working," White House chief of staff Andy Card said Sunday about the president's effort to choose a replacement for retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. "Still considering lots of options."

Displaced DeLay pledges active role in House leadership, Republican agenda

By Alyson Brodsy and Hope Yen · Monday, Oct. 3,2005 12:49 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- A defiant Tom DeLay, removed as House majority leader because of a criminal indictment, said Sunday he can do his job even without the title and pledged to continue his close partnership with House Speaker Dennis Hastert in pushing the GOP's agenda. The Texas Republican known for keeping colleagues in line and raising prodigious amounts of cash to help elect GOP candidates said he is only guilty of working to defeat Democrats. "But that's not illegal," he said. Yet some House Republicans said the fund-raising conspiracy case in Texas has plunged DeLay back into the GOP pack.

Suicide attacks kill 26, injure 101 in Indonesia

By Alyson Brodsy · Monday, Oct. 3,2005 12:46 a.m.

BALI, Indonesia -- Police raised the alert level for Indonesia's capital and the president warned of more attacks Sunday as a chilling video shot the day before showed a suspected bomber clutching a backpack and strolling past diners moments before one of three suicide bombings killed 26 people on Bali. The near-simultaneous bombings on the resort island also injured 101 people, including six Americans. The attacks apparently were planned by Southeast Asia's two most-wanted men, who are believed to be connected to an al-Qaida-linked group, said Maj. Gen. Ansyaad Mbai, a top Indonesian anti-terror official.

ROBERTS CONFIRMED

By Michael Sanserino · Friday, Sept. 30,2005 2:29 p.m.

In a 78-22 Senate vote Thursday morning, Judge John G. Roberts Jr. was confirmed as the 17th chief justice of the United States. Roberts was sworn in at the White House Thursday afternoon by Justice John Paul Stevens, acting chief justice since the death of William Rehnquist earlier this month.

Week in Review

By Alyson Brodsy · Friday, Sept. 30,2005 12:03 a.m.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger followed through Thursday on his promise to veto a bill to legalize same-sex marriage in California, saying the issue should be decided by voters or the courts. "This bill simply adds confusion to a constitutional issue," the Republican governor said in a veto message. Schwarzenegger had announced his intention on Sept. 7, a day after the Legislature became the first in the country to approve a bill allowing gays and lesbians to wed.

Car bomb kills 60 north of Baghdad

By Alyson Brodsy · Thursday, Sept. 29,2005 11:57 p.m.

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Three suicide attackers exploded near-simultaneous car bombs in the heart of a bustling, mainly Shiite town Thursday, killing at least 60 people and wounding 70 amid a new surge of violence before an Oct. 15 referendum on Iraq's constitution.