Leading Wednesday's corporations and securities news, shareholders of Sprint and Nextel approved Sprint's $36 billion bid to purchase Nextel. In a joint press release, the companies announced that 97 percent of voters approved of the merger. The deal still has several obstacles until it gains final approval, including resolving lawsuits from several affiliates of both [...]

Leading Wednesday's states brief, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled today that citizens cannot sue Dow Chemical Company for the costs of testing for future dioxin-related health problems. The court stated that medical monitoring is not a legal claim in Michigan and the issue is better suited for the Legislature. Over 170 residents along the Tittabawassee [...]

Prosecutors announced Wednesday that they will not appeal a judge's decision to drop perjury charges against former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy , who was previously acquitted of fraud charges . Immediately after the acquittal, government attorneys said they planned to get the perjury charges reinstated. Even with the criminal issues over, Scrushy still faces civil [...]

Despite calls for urgent action by advocacy groups and a UN panel recommendation, UN officials indicated Wednesday that the UN Security Council was moving slowly on the establishment of a tribunal in investigate the East Timor violence of 1999 , waiting to publish the full UN panel report proposing the establishment of a tribunal until [...]

Chief Justice William Rehnquist has been hospitalized with a fever. A US Supreme Court spokeswoman said he was "admitted for observation and tests." AP has more.

Two days after US House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-WI) introduced a bill to make existing provisions of the Patriot Act permanent, Judiciary Committee members Wednesday debated a possible GOP compromise on term lengths for the new provisions. Dan Lungren (R-CA) has proposed renewing two provisions for 10 years instead of permanently: the [...]

Leading Wednesday's international brief, following a statement by military commander Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama , head of Fiji's military forces, that the army "will have no qualms about removing a government that will bring back chaos," Fiji Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase said that the Fiji government would reconsider provisions of the Reconciliation, Tolerance and Unity Bill [...]

Ali al-Timimi , an Islamic scholar from Fairfax, Virginia, was sentenced to life in prison Wednesday after he was convicted of soliciting others to levy war against the US, inducing others to aid the Taliban, and inducing others to use firearms in violation of federal law. He led a group of Virginia men that authorities [...]

European Union Interior and Justice ministers Wednesday voiced support for new security measures proposed at a meeting called in the wake of last Thursday's London bomings. The new rules would require telecommunications companies to retain and allow access to up to year-old communications data . The ministers' meeting is also expected to produce a joint [...]

Former WorldCom CEO Bernard Ebbers was sentenced Wednesday to 25 years in prison. US District Court Judge Barbara Jones handed down the sentence three years after WorldCom collapsed in an $11 billion accounting fraud, losing billions for investors. In March 2005 Ebbers was found guilty of fraud, conspiracy, and filing false documents with regulators. Reuters [...]