USA
A federal judge halted the trial Monday of Salim Ahmed Hamdan, ordering a civilian court hearing for the Guantánamo Bay prisoner who is accused of being Osama bin Laden's bodyguard and driver. US District Judge James Robertson said the proceedings were not valid and that the case could not go forward until a decision is made on whether Hamdan is a prisoner of war and until he is given access to evidence against him. The US government has taken the position that the detainees are "enemy combatants" and are not entitled to the protections normally given to prisoners of war.
White House chief of staff Andrew Card will remain on the job and is expected to play a key role in shaping President Bush's Cabinet for a second term, the White House said Monday. The status of other key advisers, including that of Secretary of State Colin Powell and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, remains unclear, but President Bush has said that any major personnel changes would be made gradually, ensuring a measure of stability.
President Bush, accompanied by his wife, Laura, paid bedside visits to wounded soldiers recovering at Washington's Walter Reed Army Medical Center Tuesday. He made a similar visit in March.
Gov. James McGreevey (D) of New Jersey (above), who announced his resignation Aug. 12 after revealing he'd had an extramarital gay affair, delivered a farewell address to staff and supporters Monday in Trenton, N.J. "I am not apologizing for being a gay American but rather for having let personal feelings impact my decisionmaking," he said.
Victims and businesses affected by the Sept. 11 attacks have received $38.1 billion in public and private compensation, according to a new study by the RAND Corp., a nonprofit research group. The report raises questions about equity and fairness and could be used to help policymakers develop future compensation standards.
The Transportation Security Administration granted Korean Air permission Monday to carry electric stun guns aboard its planes. Korean Air has been using Tasers on flights outside the US for several years, but this is the first time the federal government has allowed them on jetliners within US airspace.
A freshman geology student at the University of Pittsburgh, while on a field trip near the city's airport, found a fossil of a large salamander-like creature that could help fill in details of life 300 millions years ago, paleontologists said Monday.
