USA
Education Secretary Rod Paige may soon leave office. A Bush administration official, who spoke to the Associated Press on the condition of anonymity, said Paige has been in discussions with the White House about finding the right time to resign. Paige has been a leading defender of the No Child Left Behind law, a centerpiece of the president's domestic agenda aimed at ensuring students achieve grade-level reading and math competency. Margaret Spellings, Bush's domestic policy adviser, is said to be a leading candidate to replace Paige.
Vice President Cheney told the press "I feel fine" after emerging from George Washington Medical Center in Washington Saturday. An aide said doctors found no abnormalities after Cheney, who'd been experiencing shortness of breath, was evaluated during tests.
After finding Scott Peterson guilty of murdering his wife, Laci, and her fetus, the jury that convicted him in Redwood City, Calif., on Friday, will turn its attention to sentencing - either death or life in prison without parole - when deliberations begin Nov. 22. Emotionally charged testimony is expected from Laci Peterson's mother, Sharon Rocha. Peterson's defense will try to convince jurors that his life is worth sparing while arguing that he was wrongly convicted. Some experts believe the dismissal of two jurors during the trial provides hope for an appeal. (Story, page 1.)
John McLaughlin, a 32-year Central Intelligence Agency veteran who spent three months as the agency's interim boss this year, announced his retirement Friday, calling the departure a "purely personal decision." But former intellligence officials in touch with current CIA personnel say the agency has been wracked by internal conflicts since new CIA director Porter Goss, a Bush appointee, took over in September.
Starting Monday, a Silicon Valley-based group that wants to amend the US Constitution will begin airing cable TV ads urging Californians to help give Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) and other foreign-born citizens the opportunity to run for president. Schwarzenegger, who was born in Austria, completes his first year in office Wednesday. The ads mark the first significant attempt to build public support for an amendment, for which there are four proposals circulating in Congress.
In a move that angered privacy advocates, the Transportation Security Administration ordered 72 airlines Friday to turn over computerized data - including credit card and phone numbers - about passengers on domestic flights in June by Nov. 23. The data will be used to screen for possible terrorists by checking it against government "no fly" and "watch" lists.
