WASHINGTON – Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said her mother was her “fierce defender,” who stood up to the indignity of racial segregation in 1960s Alabama and lived to see her daughter begin her successful career in international politics. Shopping trips with her mother in segregated Birmingham exposed Rice to …
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HOUSTON – Former Enron Corp. Chief Executive Jeffrey Skilling struggled to hold his temper Thursday at being pegged a liar and a crook by federal prosecutors, telling jurors in his criminal trial that he was devastated the company he cherished became a symbol for scandal. “I think they have purposely …
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WASHINGTON – Almost as certain as death and taxes is the public’s feeling that the U.S. income tax system is not fair. An Ipsos Poll released this week found almost six of 10 people, 58 percent, say the system is unjust, a number that is virtually unchanged from two decades …
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NEW YORK – The 1980s: Wall Street greed; the mullet; Boy George and Culture Club; Mr. T on TV; and a little moonwalking on the dance floor. All are a part of “The Wedding Singer,” the aggressively eager new musical comedy that attempts to do for New Jersey in the …
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HOUSTON – Republicans hoping to fill the seat of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay stepped forward Tuesday as the 11-term lawmaker said he would resign, leaving the Texas district whose boundaries he drew. Within hours of DeLay’s announcement, several Republicans contacted party officials about getting on the Nov. 7 …
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NEW YORK – If you smell a rat when you’re working with this bunch, I guess you’re just doing your job. Colombian police have expanded their force to include a few new furry friends. But these critters aren’t your regular Rovers — they’re red-eyed rats. The six-pack of rodent detectives …
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UNITED NATIONS – How bad is the still expanding scandal in the United Nations’ multi-billion-dollar procurement division? Based on a still-secret internal investigation, the answer is: for the U.N., it is just as bad as the gigantic Oil-for-Food debacle — or maybe worse. The focus of the current scandal is …
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HOUSTON – Eight women and four men were selected as jurors Monday for the trial of former Enron Corp. chiefs Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling, accused of orchestrating the massive fraud that came to symbolize an era of corporate scandals. Two women and two men were also chosen as alternate …
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WASHINGTON – Chief Justice John Roberts expressed doubts Tuesday about legal restrictions on political ads by outside groups as the Supreme Court took up a new challenge to the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law. Questioning Solicitor General Paul D. Clement, who was defending the law, Roberts raised a hypothetical case in …
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WASHINGTON – In 2006, nearly two dozen governors’ offices now held by Republicans and more than a dozen others held by Democrats are going to be on state ballots. Those are odds sure to put Republicans on the defensive. Some of the Republican Party’s marquee governors, Arnold Schwarzenegger in California, …
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