
BP agrees to pay $4.5B; 3 employees charged
A day of reckoning arrived for BP on Thursday as the oil giant agreed to plead guilty to a raft of charges in the deadly Gulf of Mexico spill and pay ...

Doctors, others demand clearer Irish abortion law
Pressure mounted Thursday for the Irish government to draft a law spelling out when life-saving abortions can be performed — a demand that came after ...

Ireland probes death of ill abortion-seeker
The debate over legalizing abortion in Ireland flared Wednesday after the government confirmed that a woman in the midst of a miscarriage was refused ...
Court: Lawyer can't sue gov't over receipt mistake
The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued its first opinion of the new term, saying a lawyer cannot combine two laws to sue the federal government for ...
Court won't hear appeal in witness tampering case
The Supreme Court won't review a decision to throw out sanctions and a $600,000 award against Miami prosecutors in a witness-tampering investigation ...

Storm volunteers mingle with stars at Glamour fest
Sandra Kyong Bradbury was star struck. She had just spied Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg a few feet away. "How can you top that?" asked ...

Nation pays tribute to sacrifices of veterans
From sea to shining sea, the nation paid tribute to its members of the armed services Sunday, both with somber traditions such as a Virginia ...

Study: US judges' criminal caseloads vary widely
Federal judges across the nation are shouldering criminal caseloads that vary widely in size, sometimes even among judges in the same courthouse, ...
Ireland votes to strengthen children's rights
Official returns show that voters have approved an amendment to insert stronger rights for children into Ireland's constitution with a ...
High court to take fresh look at voting rights law
The Supreme Court will consider eliminating the government's most potent weapon against racial discrimination at polling places since the 1960s.
High court to take new look at voting rights law
The Supreme Court will consider eliminating the government's most potent weapon against racial discrimination at polling places since the 1960s.
Court will decide on collection of DNA samples
The Supreme Court announced Friday that it will decide whether it's legal for police to collect DNA samples from people under arrest, a case that ...
Judge gives first OK to settlement over card fees
A federal judge gave preliminary approval Friday to a $7.2 billion settlement between major credit card companies and retailers over alleged ...

JetBlue pilot who disrupted flight free to go home
A JetBlue Airways captain who ran through the cabin of a cross-country flight yelling about religion and terrorists was prohibited Friday from flying ...

Ireland to vote on expanding rights for children
Ireland's leaders issued last-minute appeals Friday for voters to amend the constitution to include stronger rights for children, making it easier for ...

Sri Lankan move to fire top judge stirs fears
When Shirani Bandaranayake was appointed Sri Lanka's chief justice, rights campaigners assailed her as a puppet of a government that was steamrolling ...
Obama's health care overhaul turns into a sprint
The long slog has turned into a sprint. President Barack Obama's health care law survived the Supreme Court and the election; now the uninsured can ...
Federal judge urged to approve BP settlement
BP and attorneys for businesses and people who lost money in the Gulf oil spill urged a federal judge Thursday to give his final approval to a ...
Where Obama stands on the issues
A look at where President Barack Obama stands on some of the issues that the country will face in his second term. Abortion and birth control: ...

Gay marriage, marijuana backed in historic votes
Altering the course of U.S social policy, Maine and Maryland became the first states to approve same-sex marriage by popular vote, while Washington ...

Maine, Maryland vote to legalize gay marriage
Voters a continent apart made history Tuesday on two divisive social issues, with Maine and Maryland becoming the first states to approve same-sex ...
High court hears case of judge's mistake
The Supreme Court appeared inclined Tuesday to rule that a criminal defendant cannot be tried again after a judge acquits him midway through a trial, ...

Court upholds sale of polygamous church assets
A federal appeals court ruled Monday that a polygamist sect on the Utah-Arizona border waited too long to challenge a court-ordered takeover, clearing ...
Limits on class-action lawsuits at Supreme Court
The Supreme Court appeared divided Monday in two cases in which businesses are trying to make it harder for customers or investors to band together ...

Pakistan army chief issues warning in rare message
Pakistan's army chief warned against efforts to undermine the military in a rare public statement Monday that analysts interpreted as a response to ...