An extremely positive midterm election prediction that the Democrats will pick up 30-plus seats – and the majority – is raising eyebrows among House and Senate minority aides, who believe Minority Whip Steny Hoyer's expectations are unrealistic. In fact, a House and Senate Democratic leadership official said that it's likely that the Senate will remain in Republican control and that taking back the House is just a fifty-fifty proposition.
GM and Ford, mired in red ink and buyout plans, have achieved perfection in someone's eyes: The Human Rights Campaign, a group that promotes domestic partner benefits, today gave the automakers scores of 100 percent on its so-called corporate equality index.
The two prominent cochairs of a task force created by Congress to make recommendations on U.S. policy in Iraq warned today that the next three months will be a critical period for Iraq's government to deliver on its promises.
AP - The army chief who ousted Thailand's prime minister in a bloodless coup said Wednesday that a new, temporary constitution will enacted within two weeks and a general election will be held in October 2007.
AP - President Bush and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sparred over Tehran's disputed nuclear program but managed to avoid a personal encounter as the 61st General Assembly got under way in the shadow of a military coup in Thailand.
AP - Saddam Hussein's lawyers walked out of his trial Wednesday to protest the replacement of the chief judge, who had been accused of favoring the defense.
The new chief judge in Saddam Hussein's genocide trial ejected the ousted Iraqi leader from the courtroom for refusing to sit down moments after proceedings resumed today in Baghdad. The new judge took over the trial a day after Iraq's government demanded that the original judge, Adullah al-Almiri, be replaced because of his statement that the deposed leader was not a dictator.
In a nationally televised address Wednesday, the head of Thailand's army and newly declared leader said the military's coup d'etat was complete and promised power would be returned to the people as soon as possible.
An abducted baby's birthmark helped speed her return to the mother whose throat had been slashed during the kidnapping, authorities announced. Eleven-day-old Abigale "Abby" Lynn Woods is now back with her family. A relative of the suspect grew suspicious when she noticed makeup on the infant, the FBI said.