Illinois' highest court on Friday validated the appointment of Roland Burris to fill President-elect Barack Obama's vacant U.S. Senate seat, ruling that the Illinois secretary of state does not have to sign off on it. Aides to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said his lawyers were reviewing the ruling, which was a victory for embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Pirates holding a Saudi-owned supertanker off the coast of Somalia have set the vessel free, according to Andrew Mwangura of the Kenya Seafarers Association.

She used to lunch at the Four Seasons. Now the best-selling author jokes that she's inviting friends to Taco Bell. Call it gallows humor, but Alexandra Penney has just lost her life's savings. She invested every penny with accused Ponzi-schemer Bernard Madoff.

A federal judge ordered a north Alabama sheriff jailed earlier this week, saying the lawman intentionally served jail inmates "woefully insufficient" meals in order to pocket more than $200,000.

The son of former Liberian President Charles Taylor Sr. was sentenced Friday to 97 years in prison for charges including torture and conspiracy, according to a federal court in Florida.

As fireworks exploded over the Big Easy on New Year's Eve, 22-year-old Adolph Grimes III pulled up to his grandmother's home near the French Quarter after a five-hour drive from Houston, Texas.

About 30 people were killed and many were wounded when Israeli forces shelled a house where they had ordered about 100 Palestinian civilians to take shelter, witness told the U.N.

Yes, it's early. Very early. Barack Obama hasn't even moved into Blair House yet.

In the war against al Qaeda and its allies, Barack Obama should adopt five key principles when he takes office.

President-elect Barack Obama left no doubt about his position on the hottest topic in the world of college football.