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SAN DIEGO – Republican presidential candidate John McCain on Monday vigorously disputed his opponent's assertion that he had backed away from his own comprehensive plan to overhaul the nation's immigration laws. “I do ask for your trust that when I say I remain committed to fair, practical and comprehensive immigration reform, I mean it,” the Arizona senator told the National Council of La Raza convention here. “I think I have earned that trust.” On Sunday, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, told the same group at the San Diego Convention Center that McCain backed off his...

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Thursday defended tough interrogation techniques for terrorism suspects approved by the Bush administration in the wake of 9/11, saying they were necessary to protect America from new attacks. In her most extensive public comments about how the administration dealt with detainee interrogations in the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001, and the anthrax attacks that followed, Rice insisted the methods of questioning complied with both U.S. law and treaty obligations. But she acknowledged that those rules had since changed and that the United States was a "different place" then, adding that the administration's top priority...

LUBBOCK, Texas - Republican John McCain defended his latest plan to help some homeowners pay their mortgages, saying Friday it was not a reversal of his earlier opposition to aggressive intervention by the government. The likely Republican presidential nominee on Thursday proposed to help 200,000 to 400,000 homeowners trade burdensome mortgages for manageable loans, a plan that would cost $3 billion to $10 billion. Democratic rivals Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama argued that McCain was flip-flopping. Last month, he said he preferred only limited intervention and letting market forces play out, drawing criticism from Democrats and some Republicans...

SACRAMENTO - In his first direct responses, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger defended dumping his brother-in-law Bobby Shriver and actor Clint Eastwood from the state Parks and Recreation Commission - a step critics allege was taken in retaliation for their opposition to a six-lane toll road through San Onofre State Park. Led by Shriver and Eastwood, the appointed and unpaid commission has been an outspoken opponent of the toll road, claiming that super highways have no place in state parks. There also are worries that it could irreparably damage a renowned surfing area called Trestles. In an interview with the Orange County...

NEW ORLEANS - Hillary Rodham Clinton strongly defended her husband's record on civil rights Saturday at a forum in which she acknowledged "painful moments" in a presidential contest pitting the first woman candidate against a pioneering black contender. At the annual State of the Black Union conference hosted by PBS's Tavis Smiley, Clinton pushed back hard on the notion that Bill Clinton had inflamed racial tensions while campaigning for her in the run-up to South Carolina's primary last month. The former president — once so popular among black voters he was dubbed the first black president by novelist Toni Morrison...

LAS VEGAS - Former President Clinton on Monday compared Republican criticism of his wife's position on driver's license for illegal immigrants to the ads that helped sink John Kerry's White House hopes in 2004. "I had the feeling that at the end of that last debate we were about to get into cutesy land again," Clinton told some 3,000 members of the American Postal Worker's Union at a convention. At the end of a televised Democratic presidential debate last week, Hillary Rodham Clinton hedged on whether she supported a plan by her home state governor, New York's Eliot Spitzer, to...

NEW YORK - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad defended his nation's human rights record on Monday as hundreds of protesters gathered outside the U.N. and Columbia University to protest appearances by the hard-line leader. "People in Iran are very joyous, happy people," he told a National Press Club audience that questioned him about the arrests of students, journalists and women. "They're very free in expressing what they think." He said women in Iran were "the freest women in the world ... They're active in every level of society." Human rights activists inside and outside Iran have decried a recent wave of...

DES MOINES, Iowa - On the verge of joining the presidential race, Republican Fred Thompson on Friday unapologetically defended his career as a Washington lobbyist paid to influence the government on behalf of an abortion-rights group, a leftist Haitian leader and other special interests. "Don't confuse the lawyer with the client," Thompson told The Associated Press. The former Tennessee senator and actor discussed his eclectic career path, the war in Iraq and his ambitious plans to reshape the GOP during a 30-minute interview after introducing himself to Iowa Republicans in classic Midwest fashion: He toured the state fair with popular...

ELKO, Nev. - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Sunday stood by foreign policy comments that sparked an anti-U.S. protest in Pakistan and attacks from his opponents, telling an audience in rural Nevada, "There was no mistake there." "I made a simple proposition that I'd like anybody here to challenge me on," Obama said of his Wednesday speech in which he said that he would use military force in Pakistan, a U.S. ally, if necessary to root out terrorists. Obama also sought to clarify his assertion, prompted by a reporter's question, that nuclear weapons would be "off the table" in...

TAMPA, Fla. - Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani on Sunday defended his law firm's role in representing Citgo Petroleum Corp., which is ultimately controlled by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, saying it was helping protect American jobs. Giuliani acknowledged though, that his opponents will try to exploit the news that a lawyer with Bracewell & Giuliani of Houston has been representing Citgo before the Texas legislature. The firm has had a contract with Citgo since before Giuliani joined it. "Oh, they'll exploit everything," Giuliani said in an interview. "There are things that make sense and things that don't make sense and...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - President Gen. Pervez Musharraf defended his decision to remove Pakistan's chief justice and insisted Saturday that he had no personal differences with the former top judge. Musharraf has faced a growing crisis since March 9, when he suspended Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry over unspecified allegations that the judge had abused his authority. Many lawyers, retired judges and opposition leaders consider Musharraf's action an effort to remove a strong-willed judge ahead of parliamentary and presidential elections. On Friday police used tear gas, rubber bullets and batons to stop supporters of Chaudhry from reaching the Supreme...

HOOVER, Ala. - A new Homeland Security program aims to analyze existing, legally collected computer data, not gather new personal information on U.S. citizens, Secretary Michael Chertoff said Friday in defending the program from congressional critics. The project, still in pilot stage, will help investigators understand evidence gathered through subpoenas but won't troll computers for new, private information, Chertoff said in an interview with The Associated Press. "It's an experiment to see how you can better analyze data that you already have, that you've already legally collected, to see if you can understand it, sort it and make use of...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration defended the Medicare prescription drug benefit program on Monday as being cheaper than initially forecast, challenging the U.S. government's top accountant who called it "fiscally irresponsible." "Over 90 percent (of Medicare recipients) are covered and the program costs are much less than what experts predicted when the bill was enacted in 2004," said Leslie Norwalk, acting administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a unit of the Health and Human Services Department. Medicare is the federal health insurance program covering 42 million elderly and disabled Americans. The program was expanded last year...

VERO BEACH, Fla. - Republican presidential candidate John McCain (news, bio, voting record) is defending his outreach to conservative Christians, arguing that his effort is not political pandering to win the GOP nomination. McCain met privately Monday with religious broadcasters in Orlando, Fla., then answered questions about his appeal to conservatives in Vero Beach. In the 2000 campaign, McCain angered the party's right by calling evangelist leaders Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell "agents of intolerance." Last spring, he spoke at Falwell's Liberty University although hard feelings still linger among some conservatives. Focus on the Family founder James Dobson has said...

SIOUX CITY, Iowa - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Monday defended his opposition to embryonic stem cell research despite its scientific promise to cure diseases like multiple sclerosis that afflicts his wife, Ann. In an interview with The Associated Press, the former Massachusetts governor said he was confident that research on adult stem cells could eventually provide the medical answers. "I believe that science is able to receive the stem cells necessary for research through means that don't represent a serious, moral problem," Romney said. Scientists say embryonic stem cells hold the most promise and the research may eventually...

DES MOINES, Iowa - Pressed to defend her Iraq war vote, Hillary Rodham Clinton said Saturday there are no "do-overs in life" and Democrats need a presidential nominee who inspires confidence on national security. In her first campaign swing through this early nominating state, the New York senator told party activists that Democrats in 2008 will face "someone on the other side who will be very tough and strong, even bellicose perhaps." That likely was a reference to Arizona Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record), who has taken a hard line in supporting more U.S. troops to Iraq, as...

WASHINGTON – President Bush, confronting a skeptical Congress and American public, struck back Tuesday at opponents of sending more troops to the war. He asserted that “America must not fail in Iraq” and insisted his plan offered the best chance of success. Facing a major political showdown over his strategy, Bush said in remarks prepared for his State of the Union address that “the consequences of failure would be grievous and far reaching.” Democrats – and even some Republicans – scoffed at his policy. “They don't have a plan,” said freshman Sen. Jim Webb, picked by the Democrats to deliver...

California should be permitted to enact the world's toughest vehicle-emission standards as part of its effort to combat global warming, a state attorney told a federal judge Friday. "Congress wanted California to be an innovator," California Deputy Attorney General Mark Melnick argued in U.S. District Court in defense of regulations seeking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles. At issue are tailpipe emission standards for greenhouse gases approved in 2004 by the California Air Resources Board. The rules are designed to cut polluting exhaust from cars and light trucks by 25 percent and from sport utility vehicles by 18 percent....

Lieberman Defends 1998 Rebuke of Clinton Saturday September 9, 2006 3:46 AM By JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN Associated Press Writer STRATFORD, Conn. (AP) - Sen. Joe Lieberman defended his reprimand of former President Clinton for his involvement with a White House intern, dismissing rival Ned Lamont's claim that he turned the 1998 rebuke into a spectacle. ``It was important for someone who was a Democrat to stand up and call on him publicly to accept more responsibility for what he had done,'' Lieberman said Friday. ``In that case, I stood up and did what I believed was right for our country.'' In...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 18, 2006 – A joint Afghan National Army and coalition patrol struck an improvised explosive device and was subsequently engaged by extremists with small-arms and rocket-propelled-grenade fire in the Waza Khwa district of Afghanistan’s Paktika province yesterday, military officials reported. One Afghan soldier was killed, and one coalition vehicle was damaged in the attack. The extremists fled the area in two trucks identified by coalition ground forces, and this information was relayed to coalition aircraft overhead. The fleeing trucks were traveling off-road in an attempt to avoid detection. Overhead aircraft observed 10 to 15 people and heavy weapons...

CAMP DAVID, Md. - President Bush on Friday criticized a federal court ruling that said his warrantless wiretapping program is unconstitutional, declaring that opponents "do not understand the nature of the world in which we live." "I strongly disagree with that decision, strongly disagree," Bush said, striking his finger on a podium to underscore his point. "That's why I instructed the Justice Department to appeal immediately, and I believe our appeals will be upheld." U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor in Detroit on Thursday was the first to find the National Security Agency surveillance program unconstitutional. The program involves monitoring...

Inland Rep. Jerry Lewis defended congressional earmarking Tuesday during a visit to Mt. San Jacinto Community College's nursing program in Menifee. A $1.49 million federal grant has helped expand the program at the Menifee campus and school officials thanked Lewis, R-Redlands, for his support. Colleges such as Mt. San Jacinto would suffer without the special-funding projects delivered by members of Congress, Lewis said. "One of our jobs is to help California and my district get as much of their money back as possible," Lewis said. Earmarks, which have increased more than threefold in the past decade, are special projects inserted...

UN defends Rwanda tribunal By Mike Pflanz in Arusha (Filed: 24/06/2006) The United Nations court prosecuting the ringleaders of Rwanda's genocide has had to defend itself after taking 12 years and spending almost £550 million to convict only 25 people.The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) promised at its inception in 1994 to indict some 700 senior politicians, government officials, clergymen and journalists accused of orchestrating the genocide. As the full scale of the task became obvious, and amid repeated claims of inefficiency, that figure was reduced to 300. Only 72 people have been arrested and 25 convicted. A further...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vice President Dick Cheney defended himself on Thursday against accusations by a leading Republican senator that he worked to thwart Senate plans to make telephone executives testify at a hearing about a U.S. domestic spying program. A day after Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter rebuked Cheney for trying to head off subpoenas of the phone company executives, Cheney acknowledged that he had spoken to Senate leaders and members of Specter's committee. He said in a letter to Specter that he acted when the administration became concerned about a "compulsory process to force testimony" in a matter...

Hillary Clinton defended her warming relationship on Tuesday with Rupert Murdoch, the conservative media mogul. Commenting on Mr Murdoch's decision to host a fundraiser for her Senate-election campaign, Mrs Clinton said: "He's my constituent and I'm very gratified that he thinks I'm doing a good job." Mr Murdoch's New York Post tabloid newspaper initially attacked the New York Democrat's decision to stand for the Senate, running front-page headlines pleading "Don't Run". Mrs Clinton is the leading Democratic candidate for president in 2008. But one person involved in the event said Mr Murdoch's decision to support her reflected his opinion of...

Japan, Switzerland, Egypt, Sweden and Mexico all have tougher immigration laws than the United States, according to a study commissioned by the author of a House bill that would criminalize illegal immigrants and build a fence between the U.S. and Mexico. The report issued Friday by the Law Library of Congress also includes Brazil in a six-country survey aimed at examining the ramifications of proposed laws, now under debate in Congress, dealing with America's estimated 12 million illegal immigrants. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., pointed to the findings -- particularly those in Japan and Switzerland, both with...

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld did not intimidate members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during planning of the Iraq war as some retired generals have charged, a former chairman said Sunday. With Rumsfeld described by his critics as a micromanager who did not listen to military leaders, the Pentagon circulated a one-page memo late last week detailing the defense secretary's frequent contacts with numerous military and civilian advisers. Richard B. Myers, the Air Force general who was chairman of the Joint Chiefs from 2001 until last fall, dismissed criticism that military leaders failed to stand up to...

WASHINGTON, April 6, 2006 – Protection of America in the near term and trying to lay a foundation for peace in the long term make the war in Iraq worthwhile, President Bush told a Charlotte, N.C., audience today. Speaking at Central Piedmont Community College in a town-meeting format, the president said he believes future generations will be grateful for the world that will result from victory in the global war on terror. "I believe that one day an American president will be talking about the world in which he is making decisions, or she is making decisions, and they'll look...

WASHINGTON – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger used a national television interview Sunday to promote his plan to spend $222 billion on a massive public works building program in California. In Washington for an annual meeting with fellow governors, Schwarzenegger interrupted as Tim Russert, host of NBC's “Meet the Press,” characterized the proposal as “spend, spend, spend.” “No, it's invest, invest, invest, Tim. You're wrong,” Schwarzenegger said. “Those people that are criticizing my infrastructure deal and my strategic growth plan are people that are a little bit confused about the difference between spending and investing,” he said. Some of the people most...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 24, 2006 – As it has for more than 200 years, the U.S. Coast Guard is carrying on its wartime service in operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. Coast Guardsmen served in the War of 1812, Mexican-American War, Civil War, Spanish-American War, World Wars I and II, Korean War, Vietnam War, Mayaguez Incident in Cambodia in 1975, Operation Urgent Fury in Grenada, Operation Just Cause in Panama, Operation Desert Shield/Storm, and Kosovo. "During the last two centuries, (Coast Guard) cutters have been used extensively in 'brown water' combat," U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Daniel McClellan, the commander of...

WASHINGTON (AP) - In his first extensive public comments about being implicated in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal, California Republican Rep. John Doolittle said he has done nothing wrong and challenged the Justice Department to investigate him. Doolittle also criticized ethics reforms being proposed by fellow Republican leaders in the House, saying they are being done for the sake of appearances. "I think the system's working," said Doolittle, whose comments came in a prerecorded interview broadcast Monday on Sacramento talk radio station KFBK-AM. "This kind of a scandal is a big scandal because it doesn't happen very often. It's quite...

WASHINGTON (AP) - House Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo said Monday he and other congressmen weren't attempting to block a federal investigation of a prominent Texas political contributor, but were trying instead to keep a government agency from wrongly seizing the man's property. At issue were attempts by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to recover $300 million from Houston millionaire Charles Hurwitz for his role in the 1988 collapse of United Savings Association of Texas, which cost taxpayers $1.6 billion. A report in Sunday's Los Angeles Times said Pombo, R-Calif.; Rep. John Doolittle, R-Calif.; and Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, sought...

ABOARD AIR FORCE II - Vice President Dick Cheney on Tuesday vigorously defended the Bush administration's use of secret domestic spying and efforts to expand presidential powers, saying "it's not an accident that we haven't been hit in four years." Talking to reporters aboard his government plane as he flew from Islamabad, Pakistan to Muscat, Oman on an overseas mission, Cheney said a contraction in the power of the presidency since the Vietnam and Watergate era must be reversed. "I believe in a strong, robust executive authority and I think that the world we live in demands it. And to...

SEOUL, South Korea - South Korea's best known scientist said Friday he stands by his breakthrough stem cell research despite a barrage of fraud allegations, and vowed to prove the findings within days. But Hwang Woo-suk apologized for "fatal errors and loopholes in reporting the scientific accomplishment" and said he has asked that the scientific article outlining his research be withdrawn. He gave no details of the errors. The paper, published in May by the journal Science, purported to show how Hwang's team used cloning to custom-make embryonic stem cells for 11 patients, raising hopes of treatment for paralysis or...

Liberal Religious Leaders Lash Out at Fidelis Christmas Ad Campaign Fri Dec 9, 4:14 PM ET To: National Desk Contact: Brian Burch of Fidelis, 734-358-3433 or bburch@fidelis.org WASHINGTON, Dec. 9 /U.S. Newswire/ -- In response to the Fidelis Christmas ad campaign that celebrates America's Judeo-Christian faith traditions and defends Judge Samuel Alito, liberal religious leaders lashed out at the ad, calling it "offensive," "coerced religion," and "a manipulation" at a Friday morning press conference. Fidelis President Joseph Cella stated: "This season is a special time when many Americans commemorate our Judeo-Christian roots. It is unfortunate these liberal religious leaders dragged...

WASHINGTON - Pakistan's president on Sunday defended his recent attempts to engage Israel's government, saying most Pakistanis support his policy. Gen. Pervez Musharraf, whose foreign minister recently met for the first time with his Israeli counterpart, said he enjoyed widespread support for the diplomatic breakthrough. Both sides have said it was the result of Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. "When we are talking to the Israelis and the Israeli foreign minister, or I address the Jewish congress, I am very clear that this is the strategic direction that Pakistan needs to take," Musharraf said on CNN's "Late Edition." "The...

S PRINGFIELD, Ill. -- Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich defended the state's hiring practices Wednesday as a federal inquiry into the matter widened, and said he had nothing to hide. Federal prosecutors have subpoenaed the governor's office and the Department of Children and Family Services. State officials confirmed Wednesday that the Department of Transportation also was subpoenaed. "This kind of examination isn't a bad thing if you're confident that your systems are working and that you know that you try to do things honestly and ethically and responsibly," the first-term Democrat said after cutting the ribbon for the state's new emergency...

Country superstar Dolly Parton was thrilled when Yusuf Islam agreed to collaborate with her on her new covers album because she wanted to show fans he's a "really sweet man." Parton has been a longtime friend and fan of the folk icon, formerly Cat Stevens, and was horrified when she learned he had been refused entry to America last year. Islam was turned back when his name appeared on a mysterious list of potential terrorist sympathisers. He has been fighting the humiliating immigration mess ever since. And, by including him on her new album, Those Were The Days, patriotic Parton...

$50 million lawsuit is being filed against Hoboken and its police department by the parents of a 16-year-old boy who drowned in the Hudson River shortly after escaping from Hoboken Police Headquarters. "He was in the custody of the police department, he was a juvenile and it was their responsibility to maintain his safety and under very suspicious and nefarious circumstances he allegedly escaped and drowned in the Hudson River," attorney Robert Bianchi said. "To this day, a year later, no one from law enforcement has had the courtesy to contact the mother or her attorney to let them know...

A member of the group, the "Jersey Girls," who lost her husband in the 9/11 attacks, is defending 9/11 Commission member Jamie Gorelick against allegations that, as deputy attorney general in the Clinton administration, she blocked critical intelligence that had identified the two 9/11 hijackers who destroyed the World Trade Center. "Gorelick gets a bad rap with that whole, you know, 'wall thing,'" Lorie Van Auken told WABC Radio's John Gambling - referring to Ms. Gorelick's 1995 directive prohibiting intelligence agencies from sharing evidence on suspected terrorists with law enforcement. Calling it insread "the Reno wall," Van Auken insisted that...

SACRAMENTO — A little-known state board sat down this spring to ponder this ticklish question: What does a California legislator deserve to be paid these days? What the members decided caused more than a few people to scratch their heads, considering that: • California legislators were already the highest-paid state lawmakers in the land, with an annual salary of $99,000 on top of benefits that include daily expenses, auto rentals, car repairs, gasoline and staff expenses. • In a Field Poll last month, their job rating hit a low for the year, with only 24% of voters approving and only...

WASHINGTON - Former President Clinton, defending his senator-wife's statements on abortion, said Wednesday that Democrats are held to a double standard. The comment came during remarks to Campus Progress, a left-leaning student group. He said young people in his party should speak directly to conservative voters. He contended that Republicans have defined the abortion debate in a way that boxes in Democrats. "So for example, if you're a Democrat and you have sort of normal impulses, you're a sellout, like when Hillary said abortion is a tragedy for virtually everybody who undergoes it, we ought to do all we can...

LONDON (AP) - British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Wednesday defended the war in Iraq, and brushed off a new question about a government memo that suggested Washington had been determined to justify the invasion. "I was glad that we took the action we did," Blair told the House of Commons when asked about the so-called Downing Street memo. His comments came a day after President Bush rejected suggestions that Washington set a timetable for a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq and urged patience. According to the leaked minutes of a July 23, 2002, meeting between Blair and top government officials...

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-06-11-dean_x.htm?csp=34 USA Today piece. Howard Dean says he is bringing in $1 million weekly to the Democratic party. By Kevin Wolf, AP

Editor's note: Each week, WorldNetDaily White House correspondent Les Kinsolving asks the tough questions almost no one else will ask. And each week, WorldNetDaily brings you the transcripts of those dialogues with the president and his spokesman. If you'd like to suggest a question for the White House, submit it to WorldNetDaily's exclusive interactive forum MR. PRESIDENT! By Les Kinsolving At today's White House news briefing, WND asked presidential press secretary Scott McClellan about the president's view that those involved in the Minuteman Project on the U.S.-Mexican border are vigilantes and confronted the spokesman with Border Patrol comments about agents'...

MINNEAPOLIS - Tribal leaders on Thursday defended a $5,000 victims-aid grant given to the family of a teenager who killed nine people before killing himself, saying his relatives had "a double burden." Red Lake Tribal Secretary Judy Roy said the tribal council had decided unanimously that shooter Jeff Weise should be considered a victim of the March 21 violence centered on a high school, and that his family should get help paying for his funeral and burial. "It's not for him, it's for the family. ... They have a double burden," she said. Some relatives of others who were killed...

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan went before thousands of employees in a rare staff meeting Tuesday to defend the United Nations against what he called "relentless" attacks, and told them they should feel proud to work for the world body. The meeting was billed as a chance for Annan to spell out his plans to reform the United Nations and address staff concerns at a time when the organization is enduring fierce criticism over a host of scandals, from allegations of corruption in the oil-for-food program in Iraq to sex abuse by peacekeepers and claims of harassment...

U.S. Defends Sealing Charges Against Former Clinton Aide By IAN URBINA Published: March 2, 2005 Correction Appended Federal prosecutors are battling attempts to dismiss their criminal case against Hillary Rodham Clinton's former fund-raising director, claiming in a court motion that they kept the indictment of him secret for more than a year to protect the identity of a witness cooperating in a separate investigation. The defendant, David Rosen, is charged with failing to report in-kind contributions and producing a false invoice in connection with an Aug. 12, 2000, fund-raiser for Mrs. Clinton, according to an indictment unsealed in January. He...

GENEVA (AP) - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan told employees of the refugee agency that his acceptance of their chief's resignation should not be interpreted as indicating the official's guilt on sexual misconduct allegations, a spokeswoman said Tuesday. In a letter distributed to the staff of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Annan stressed that Ruud Lubbers has not been found guilty of any offense, U.N. spokeswoman Marie Heuze said. "My decision to accept his resignation should not be interpreted as a finding of guilt," Annan wrote. "I have accepted his resignation with regret because I greatly appreciate the energy and...

Secret wiretaps in the San Diego City Hall corruption case were based on "more than sufficient" evidence that a crime was taking place and therefore should be admissible, prosecutors said in court documents filed yesterday. Government attorneys filed almost 200 pages in response to defense motions, including Las Vegas political consultant Lance Malone's request that wiretap evidence be tossed out. Malone's attorney contends judges were duped into approving the recordings. The judges were not properly advised that Malone made statements that would have shown he was not part of a conspiracy, according to Malone's attorney. The government countered yesterday that...