Tom Bullock

A recently passed North Carolina law made it the only state to require people use public restrooms based on the sex listed on their birth certificate. A federal lawsuit is challenging the law as discriminatory.

Since its founding in 1987, Hamas has pursued a dual policy of "armed resistance" against Israel — including suicide bombing attacks on Israeli civilians — while also extending social-welfare programs to Palestinians in the occupied territories of Gaza and the West Bank. Here, a guide to Hamas' history and its leaders.

The man believed to be the second in command of al-Qaida in Iraq has been captured. Hamed Farid al-Saeedi is believed to have masterminded countless attacks, including the bombing of a Shiite shrine in Samara earlier this year. Iraqi officials say the arrest is a major blow to terrorists in the country.

A Shiite religious ceremony in southern Baghdad is again marred by violence when gunmen open fire on pilgrims, killing 20. The annual event, which drew hundreds of thousands, was disrupted last year when rumors of suicide bombers in the crowds sparked a stampede that killed more than 1,000.

Saddam Hussein takes the stand and launches into a political speech, praising the insurgency and urging Iraqis to halt sectarian violence. Reporters are ordered out of the chamber when Saddam ignores the judge's orders to confine his statements to the charges against him.

With their identities concealed, witnesses in the trial of Saddam Hussein give chilling testimony on torture and deprivation in Iraqi prisons. The former Iraqi leader, who faces crimes against humanity, vowed he would not return to the "unjust" court in Baghdad.

Authorities in Iraq refer Saddam Hussein and three others to stand trial for a 1982 massacre in a Shiite village. All will face the death penalty if convicted.