A judge said Monday that Michael Jackson's longtime attorney and afamily friend should take over the pop singer's estate for now,rejecting a request from Jackson's mother to be put in charge or sharecontrol.

Bombs and bullets killed seven American troops on Monday, the deadliestday for U.S. forces in Afghanistan in nearly a year — and a sign thatthe war being fought in the Taliban heartland of the south and eastcould now be expanding

South Carolina authorities confirmed Monday that a suspect slain in North Carolina was the same man wanted in connection to the rash of murders in their state.

Nashville police spokesman Don Aaron said Monday that 20-year-oldSahel Kazemi bought the semiautomatic handgun found at the scene where Steve McNair died was bought Thursday evening from aperson he didn't name. An autopsy showed that McNair and Kazemi died early

A Salem, Massachusetts mother accused of withholding cancer treatment from her autistic son has pleaded not guilty to an attempted murder charge in the nine-year-old boy's death.

Sunday's session lasted only three minutes, despite a statement last week from New York Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli that he has begun the process of withholding paychecks for all 62 state Senators.

Such is the tale told in Persepolis 2.0, a reflective and embittered graphic novel on the post-election unrest in Iran being distributed widely on the Iranian blogosphere and, perhaps, on Iranian streets.

The two leaders signed a Joint Understanding that will guide talks on how to replace the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) and will limit U.S. and Russian strategic warheads to between 1,500 and 1,675, and strategic delivery vehicles to a

Four soldiers died after an improvised explosive device (IED) exploded in northern Afghanistan, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said in a statement. Another two died in a separate IED blast in the southern part of the country.

The guidelines allow more flexibility than those proposed in April that would have stopped federal money to even some stem cell lines approved by the Bush administration.

FARRAH Fawcett was not a great actress. But she had an impact on popular culture out of all proportion to her acting ability. Posters of her sold in the millions.

THOSE who thought the passing of the late great Ian Rushbrook would bring a change in style, outlook and direction at the iconoclastic Edinburgh-based Personal Assets Trust wi

THE loss of a loved one is a harrowing and life-changing experience - the last thing anyone who has experienced this should face is deportation.

SCOTLAND'S justice secretary has upped the pressure on Westminster to devolve control over firearms in a letter to new Home Secretary Alan Johnson.

A THIRD British soldier has been killed over the weekend in southern Afghanistan, bringing to 174 the total number of UK services personnel killed during the deployment in the

THE Ultimate Answer in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy has been given a new lease of life, thanks to the Scottish Parliament. In the Douglas Adams novel, a supercom

THE Scottish Government has defended spending almost £500,000 on its "National Conversation" over the future of the constitution.

A BRITISH diplomatic compound is close to being seized by the Iranian authorities, one of the country's hardline military commanders has warned.

One of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's potential presidential rivals saidSunday that her abrupt resignation won't help her dodge scrutiny.President George W. Bush's chief political adviser said her strategyis, at best, unclear.