A U.N. tribunal is expected to issue verdicts Thursday in the case against former Serbian President Milan Milutinovic and five other top Serb officials accused of war crimes committed in 1999 in the Serbian province of Kosovo. Milutinovic -- along with Nikola Sainovic, Dragoljub Ojdanic, Nebojsa Pavkovic, Vladimir Lazarevic and Sreten Lukic -- are charged with crimes against humanity, including murder and persecution on political, racial or religious grounds. The crimes allegedly took place during a Serb-led military campaign against ...

To hear Barack Obama tell it, he owes Stevie Wonder plenty. "I think it's fair to say that had I not been a Stevie Wonder fan, Michelle might not have dated me. We might not have married," Obama said Wednesday as he and the first lady hosted a concert and award ceremony for Wonder. "The fact that we agreed on Stevie was part of the essence of our courtship." Wonder was presented with a Gershwin Award for lifetime achievement during ...

China accused the United States of interfering in its internal affairs and those of other nations on Thursday after the State Department issued a report sharply critical of Beijing's human rights record, state-run media reported. "The report turned a blind eye to the efforts and historic achievements China has made in human rights that have been widely recognized by the international community," according to an editorial that appeared on China's Xinhua news agency Web site. The U.S. State Department issued ...

When he was the king of cocaine, the prospect of doing hard time in an American penitentiary was about the only thing that made Pablo Escobar's blood run cold. Living by the motto "Better a tomb in Colombia than a prison cell in the United States," Escobar unleashed a wave of car bombings and assassinations that forced the Colombian government to water down extradition laws. Cowed officials even built Escobar a five-star jailhouse, with a Jacuzzi, discotheque and fake waterfall, ...

The State Department issued a report Wednesday sharply critical of China's human rights record, despite the Obama administration's decision to take a different approach to the Asian country. "The government of China's human rights record remained poor and worsened in some areas," the report said in reviewing the last year, finding Chinese authorities "committed extrajudicial killings and torture, coerced confessions of prisoners and used forced labor." The "2008 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices," the annual report of human rights ...

It was billed as a "coming out party" for one of the GOP's most promising young stars. But after nearly universal criticism was heaped on Gov. Bobby Jindal's high-profile response to President Obama's address to Congress Tuesday night, the Louisiana Republican may be wishing he had stayed home. The criticisms came from all sides of the political spectrum, including from those in conservative circles who have promoted the 36-year-old governor as the GOP's most likely advocate to bring the party ...

When Florida legislators recently struggled to balance the battered state budget, they decided to plug holes with $190 million from a $300 million affordable-housing trust fund. After all, why should a cash-strapped state shell out money for new home construction when there are tons of vacant homes just waiting to be snapped up? One of the few benefits of a housing crash, theoretically at least, is supposed to be that home buyers who were previously priced out of the market ...

Three British troops under NATO command were killed in an explosion in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, the British Defense Ministry said. In his first speech to a joint session of Congress, Obama said it's time to act boldly not just to revive the economy, but "to build a new foundation for lasting prosperity." "While the cost of action will be great, I can assure you that the cost of inaction will be far greater," he said. The president struck an ...

"As we stand at this crossroads of history, the eyes of all people in all nations are once again upon us -- watching to see what we do with this moment; waiting for us to lead," President Obama said Tuesday night. "Those of us gathered here tonight have been called to govern in extraordinary times. It is a tremendous burden, but also a great privilege -- one that has been entrusted to few generations of Americans. For in our ...

Insurgents dressed as Iraqi police officers shot and killed a U.S. soldier and an interpreter Tuesday afternoon in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, Iraqi officials said Wednesday. Sharpton has lead a chorus of criticism and allegations that the cartoon published Feb. 18 was racist. He said Murdoch's apology was a "good gesture," but he still had questions. Public debate on the issue continued to rage on the New York Post Web site early Wednesday, with some saying they were ...