UNITED NATIONS – The U.N. security chief resigned Tuesday over the Dec. 11 Algiers truck bombings after an expert panel found “gaps and weaknesses” in the U.N.’s overall security operations due to cost-cutting. The bombings at U.N. offices and another government building killed 17 U.N. staffers and injured 40 others, …

WASHINGTON – A former treasurer apparently stole at least $725,000 from the committee that runs House Republican campaigns, investigators for the group said Thursday. An internal probe alleged that the former treasurer, Christopher Ward, used his authority to order wire transfers to siphon money meant for the National Republican Campaign …

WASHINGTON – A federal appeals court is comparing a military decision at Guantanamo Bay to a nonsensical 19th-century poem by Lewis Carroll. In the first court ruling to analyze a decision to hold a detainee as an enemy combatant, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit …

BAGHDAD – Recently discovered rockets ready to be fired exploded before they could be defused on Tuesday, killing at least 15 policemen and wounding 27, according to police and hospital officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information. The blast occurred after …

MOGADISHU, Somalia – A grenade tossed into a crowded house killed at least 15 people and wounded 50 others in northeastern Somalia on Tuesday, an official said. Most of those killed or wounded in the attack in the semiautonomous region of Puntland were Ethiopians believed to be on their way …

General Motors Corp. on Tuesday reported an annual loss of $38.7 billion for 2007, one of the largest losses in U.S. corporate history. Here are the top 10 annual losses recorded for U.S. companies. They are ranked by net loss including special items and discontinued operations. Rank and Company Name, …

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – A homicide bomber on Monday killed the Pakistan army’s surgeon general, the highest-ranking military officer to die in an attack since President Pervez Musharraf joined America’s war against terror. The strike was a reminder of the extremist threat just as Musharraf resists pressure to quit from opponents …

LOS ANGELES – A Los Angeles federal judge has rejected a motion to move the Britney Spears conservatorship case to U.S. District Court Judge Philip Gutierrez said in Tuesday’s ruling that the lawyer who claims to represent Spears is not her attorney and has no authority to act on her …

Mike Huckabee won the Kansas Republican caucuses Saturday, demonstrating the lingering rift in the party after rival John McCain was minted the clear front-runner Super Tuesday. Kansas was the first of four states to hold contests for both parties Saturday. Final results showed Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor, with 60 …

This is a rush transcript of “Special Report With Brit Hume” from February 27, 2008. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And if Al Qaedais forming a base in Iraq, then we will have …