USA
A day after marking the deadliest terrorist attack in US history, President Bush is expected to argue that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein should be the next target in the counterterrorism war in a speech at the UN in New York. He's also scheduled to meet privately Thursday and Friday with other world leaders, including counterterrorism allies Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
Bush defended his administration's tougher security stance, pledging to protect the country "within the guidelines of the Constitution," in an interview for broadcast Wednesday on CBS's "60 Minutes II." Excerpts were released to the news media in advance. Civil liberties advocates have criticized the administration for detaining thousands of Middle Easterners since Sept. 11, holding secret immigration hearings, and other policies.
US Rep. John Sununu of New Hampshire won the GOP Senate primary in his state, defeating incumbent Bob Smith. Gov. Jeanne Shaheen is the Democratic candidate. Twelve states held primaries Tuesday. In other races:
The result of Florida's Democratic gubernatorial ballot was considered too close to call Wednesday morning. Ex-US Attorney General Janet Reno faced Tampa lawyer Bill McBride. Polls had to be extended due to problems with high-tech voting machines installed after the controversial 2000 presidential election. The winner will take on Gov. Jeb Bush (R), the president's brother, in November.
Elizabeth Dole, wife of onetime presidential candidate Bob Dole, and President Clinton's former chief of staff, Erskine Bowles, easily won the Republican and Democratic senatorial primaries, respectively, in North Carolina. They are vying for the seat of retiring Sen. Jesse Helms (R).
St. Paul, Minn., Mayor Norm Coleman won the GOP nod to challenge incumbent Paul Wellstone (D) for his Senate seat.
Unable to persuade Martha Stewart to testify, a House committee asked the Justice Department to open a criminal investigation into whether the home-decor icon lied to Congress about her controversial sale of ImClone stock. Through lawyers, Stewart has denied that the sale the day before ImClone's share price plummeted was prompted by insider information. Other evidence led the House Energy and Commerce Committee to doubt that, lawmakers said, but the panel closed its inquiry without a subpoena for her to appear.
Just before the one-year deadline, at least 50 injury lawsuits from the Sept. 11 attacks were filed in federal court in Manhattan against the agency that owned the World Trade Center. The suits, involving 1,000 plaintiffs, accuse the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey of negligence, safety lapses, and poor evacuation procedures.
The city of Inglewood, Calif., may discipline two officers in the beating of a handcuffed teenager, a court ruled. The two had only peripheral roles in the July 6 incident, which was caught on videotape. Another officer seen punching the teen during an arrest has pleaded innocent to assault.
