Search results for

Senate Republicans and White House officials are attempting to curtail criticism of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales by conservative interest groups. Gonzales has been mentioned as a possible replacement for the seat vacated by Sandra Day O'Connor, who announced her retirement from the Supreme Court last Friday. Robert Siegel talks with New York Times reporter David Kirkpatrick, who co-wrote an article about the White House's efforts.

A suicide car bombing in Baghdad kills the oldest member of Iraq's national assembly. Dhari Ali al-Fayadh, 87, died along with his son and at least two bodyguards. Many Iraqis say conditions are worse today than they were when U.S. administrators handed power to Iraqis a year ago. Statistics on bombings seem to bear that out.

Failed anti-communist fighters are beginning to emerge from the jungles of Laos, 30 years after defeat. The fighters once worked with the CIA to overthrow the communist government of Laos -- and ran for their lives after the communists won in 1975 -- are finally beginning to leave the jungles of Laos and re-enter society. Doualy Xaykaothao reports from Bangkok.

After each new film he makes, Hayao Miyazaki says it will be his last. Thats because the 64-year-old filmmaker still draws some of his own animation and his vision has been getting progressively worse. So fans will be thrilled with the release of yet another Miyazaki anime, this one based on a childrens novel, Howls Moving Castle (opening June 10 at Landmark's Hillcrest Cinemas).

Howl's Moving Castle

Two small villages in Kurdistan remain haunted by mustard-gas attacks that took place almost a year before those in Halabja in the late 1980s. Despite the chemical assault by Saddam Hussein's regime, the West did little to help the Kurds.

Tribal war veterans in Kenya are seeking restitution for atrocities they say were committed against them in the 1950s. At that time, hundreds of thousands of Kenyans were held in British detention camps, where they say they were tortured, executed and used for forced labor. A new book supports the Kenyan claims.

The House of Representatives approves an overhaul of the nation's bankruptcy laws, voting 302 to 126 in favor of a bill that will make it more difficult for people to erase debts by declaring bankruptcy. The Senate passed the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act last month.

Just after World War II, the Vatican instructed French Catholic authorities not to hand baptized Jewish children back to their parents, according to a recently revealed document. The discovery has re-rekindled disputes over the wartime role of Pope Pius XII.

A lawsuit against the state of Mississippi seeks to undo the largest Medicaid cutback in the nation. Some 48,000 elderly and disabled people have been dropped from eligibility in order to conserve funds. NPR's Debbie Elliott reports.