WASHINGTON - U.S. immigration agents have arrested nearly 600 people at a plant in the southern state of Mississippi in the single largest workplace enforcement raid in the nation’s history.
Officials with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) say agents arrested illegal immigrants, including suspects from Peru, Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Panama, Honduras, Brazil and […]

TBILISI - France’s ambassador to Tbilisi is being hailed as a hero for his role in rescuing two American children trapped behind enemy lines in a Russian-occupied region of Georgia. Diplomats and relief agencies are working to free many other foreigners stranded when Russian forces streamed across the border and captured large chunks of Georgian […]

PENTAGON - The U.S. government says Russia is obligated by the cease-fire agreement it signed with Georgia to remove any military equipment it brought into the country, including the disputed South Ossetia region.  Meanwhile, U.S. relief efforts to Georgia are increasing, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will discuss rebuilding the country’s security forces and […]

STATE DEPARTMENT - The United States and Libya Thursday signed an agreement in Tripoli, designed to settle all remaining U.S. compensation claims from Libyan-sponsored acts of terrorism in the 1980s. Lingering claims disputes have been blocking the full normalization of relations between the two countries. 
The signing of the comprehensive claims settlement agreement climaxes a major […]

PENTAGON - A 12-member U.S. military team has arrived in Georgia to assess humanitarian needs following the Russian attack. The team is part of a relief effort ordered Wednesday by President Bush.  
Pentagon Spokesman Bryan Whitman confirms that the team arrived in Tbilisi late Wednesday to work with local officials and the U.S. embassy to assess […]

PENTAGON - The U.S. military is sending at least two huge cargo planes into Georgia to deliver humanitarian supplies, and will also put an assessment team into the country to help determine future needs. 
During a White House statement, President Bush said he had ordered Defense Secretary Robert Gates to lead a U.S. relief effort for […]

STATE DEPARTMENT - The United States joined other members of the Group of Seven industrial powers in endorsing mediation in the Russia-Georgia conflict by French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and his Finnish counterpart Alexander Stubb. A U.S. envoy has been sent to the region to try to strengthen peace efforts. 
Officials at the State Department say […]

WASHINGTON - A military jury at the U.S. detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has sentenced Osama Bin Laden’s former driver to five-and-a-half years in prison on a charge of providing material support for terrorism. But because of credit for time already served, Salim Hamdan could be free in five months.
The jury’s decision was announced […]

WASHINGTON - The Justice Department has shed some light on the evidence it has against the prime suspect in the deadly 2001 anthrax attacks, a U.S. Army scientist who killed himself last week. At a news conference Wednesday, U.S. officials said the scientist, Bruce Ivins, had custody of a large flask of highly purified anthrax […]

PENTAGON - A U.S. military jury at Guantanamo Bay has convicted Osama Bin Laden’s former driver of providing material support to terrorism, but acquitted him on a charge of conspiracy, which alleged he was a key member of the Al-Qaida terrorist network. Still, he could face life in prison as the military trial moves into […]

WASHINGTON - A Pakistani scientist wanted by the United States for alleged ties to al-Qaida will appear in a federal courtroom in New York Tuesday to face charges she tried to kill U.S. military and civilian authorities in Afghanistan.
A federal prosecutor said late Monday that Aafia Siddiqui was arrested in Ghazni province in mid-July outside […]

WHITE HOUSE - U.S. President George Bush leaves later today on a week-long trip to Asia. Mr. Bush will visit South Korea, Thailand and China. 
This is likely to be Mr. Bush’s final trip as president to Asia.
He will travel first to Seoul - a stop he originally planned to make about a month ago, while in the […]

PENTAGON - The Pentagon issued a new U.S. National Defense Strategy Thursday, emphasizing the need for the U.S. military, and the entire government, to be prepared to fight global terrorism and related small-scale conflicts like the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The new strategy updates a document issued in 2005 under then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
The […]

CAPITOL HILL - U.S. lawmakers, organizations advocating for human rights and religious freedom, and China democracy activists have sharply criticized the Chinese government in advance of the Beijing Olympic Games opening in August 8.
Felice Gaer, who heads the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, and other commission members detailed a range of violations of human […]

WASHINGTON - The House of Representatives Judiciary Committee has voted to recommend that President Bush’s former political aide, Karl Rove, be cited for contempt of Congress for refusing to testify under subpoena.
The vote was 20 to 14 along party lines to recommend to the full House that Rove be cited for contempt.
In early July, Rove […]

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Senate has passed a major bill to provide government support for financially troubled homeowners and two of the country’s largest mortgage lenders.
Senators voted 76-13 in favor of the measure Saturday during a rare Saturday session.
The House of Representatives passed the bill Wednesday. President Bush says he will sign it into law […]

WASHINGTON - The U.S. State Department’s acting inspector general says he is investigating the department’s possible role in lucrative oil deals between Iraq and Western oil companies. 
U.S. policy has been to discourage any such deals because Iraq does not yet have a national oil law that would fairly distribute the revenue.
Acting Inspector General Harold Geisel […]

CAPITOL HILL - Longtime Texas oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens is calling on the U.S. government to take steps to reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign oil. He is promoting an energy plan that features wind and natural gas - a proposal he discussed with lawmakers at a congressional hearing Tuesday. 
T. Boone Pickens is a […]

WHITE HOUSE - U.S. President George Bush says he will continue to press for greater religious freedom in his meetings with world leaders - including those in China. Mr. Bush spoke at a ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of legislation designed to promote religious freedom around the world. 
The president says in too many countries, too […]

NEW YORK - The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, or ICE, reported a 44 percent increase in deportations last year. A senior ICE agent says he expects deportations to continue to rise in line with the US government’s tougher stance on illegal immigration.
ICE Special Agent Peter Smith, who oversees the New York region, […]

WHITE HOUSE - For 17 months, until he left the job in September 2007, Tony Snow was the White House press secretary, the voice of the Bush administration.  Now, he is being remembered and mourned by the president he served, and the reporters who sparred with him in the White House briefing room.  Snow died […]

MIAMI - The U.S. military is reviving a naval command for the Latin America and the Caribbean region, which has not been active since World War II. Officials say the re-establishment of the Fourth Fleet does not change the Navy’s mission in the area. But some regional leaders fear it will lead to an increased […]

HOUSTON - He made his fortune in oil, but energy tycoon T. Boone Pickens has now embarked on a national public relations campaign to move the country away from oil and towards a renewable energy future. But, many energy experts are skeptical about his proposals. 
In a video message broadcast on television and the Internet, T. […]

WASHINGTON - There has been wide-ranging debate in Washington and the Middle East recently regarding the possibility of a military attack on Iran’s nuclear program. The war of words between the United States, Israel and Iran has escalated and has military and political experts considering the consequences.
Top officials in the White House and Pentagon believe […]

WASHINGTON - Former U.S. Senator Jesse Helms, a conservative icon and opponent of U.S. foreign aid, died Friday at the age of 86. A spokesman says the former lawmaker died of natural causes in his home state of North Carolina. 
“They’ve got to put up with that right-wing extremist from North Carolina until well after the […]