Analysis: What effect would Sotomayor have on high court?

If Sonia Sotomayor fulfills her long-held dream to sit on the Supreme Court, she would have the prestige of joining the highest court in the land, lifetime job security and a public forum as the first Hispanic on that bench. A statement released on Ensign’s behalf by his lawyer, Paul Coggins, said a check totaling $96,000 from both of Ensign’s parents was given to Cindy Hampton, her husband, Doug, and two of their children in April 2008. It described the money as two separate gifts to each family member

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NATO, Russia to resume military relationship

NATO and Russia have agreed to restart their military relationship, nearly a year after it had been frozen over the war in Georgia, the top NATO official said on Saturday. “The NATO-Russia Council is up and running again also at the political level,” said NATO Secretary- General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, speaking at a meeting of ministers in Corfu, Greece. Russia is not a member of NATO but is a member of the NATO-Russia Council, formed in 2002.

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Bongo not dead, Gabon’s PM says

Gabon’s President Omar Bongo, Africa’s longest-serving ruler, is not dead, the country’s prime minister said Monday, contradicting reports from Gabonese and French media. Prime Minister Jean Eyeghe Ndong “deplored” French media reports that Bongo had died, saying he had met the president Monday morning.

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Report: China intimidated parents of quake victims

Chinese government authorities have intimidated and unlawfully detained parents and relatives of children who died in last year’s Sichuan earthquake and harassed their supporters, an Amnesty International report said this week. The 52-page report, released Sunday and titled “Justice Denied: Harassment of Sichuan Earthquake Survivors and Activists,” documented instances where parents and relatives said they had been detained for up to 21 days for trying to get answers from officials about their children’s deaths. Some said they had been detained several times

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Celebrity chef Oliver to cook for G-20 leaders

Budget-conscious celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has been hired to cook for G-20 leaders in London next week, nearly a year after they provoked outrage by eating an eight-course meal while discussing the global food crisis. Oliver’s company will feed the leader’s at Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s residence, 10 Downing Street. Leaders at last July’s G-8 meeting drew heavy criticism for enjoying an eight-course meal featuring 19 dishes while they were meant to be discussing how to ease global food shortages

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Flag rises for Pakistan’s returned chief justice

Pakistan’s fired chief justice was reinstated in a flag-raising ceremony at his house Sunday after the government bowed to protesters’ demands following days of massive demonstrations. The flag-raising was ceremonial. Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry will not renew his oath of office because his firing by former President Pervez Musharraf was deemed illegal.

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Pakistan to reinstate judges after protests

All judges sacked by Pakistan’s previous president, including Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, will be reinstated, Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani announced Monday after days of massive protests by lawyers demanding government action. “As per my commitment and the commitment of [President] Asif Ali Zardari, I announce the reinstatement of all deposed judges,” Gilani said in his address Monday

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