Several Iraqi citizens sued a leading European bank and Australia's wheat exporting agency in New York federal court Friday for corporate misconduct facilitating the corruption of the Iraq Oil-for-Food program which bilked Iraqis out of humanitarian aid while simultaneously enriching the Saddam Hussein regime. French bank BNP Paribas and the Australian Wheat Board (AWB) face a claim for $200 million in damages brought by seven Iraqis seeking class-action status for Iraqi residents of Irbil, Dokuk and Sulaimaniyah who were allegedly deprived of humanitarian aid by the Oil-for-Food kickbacks. The plaintiffs are suing under RICO, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

Just last month the Australian government determined that AWB worked directly with Hussein's government to orchestrate the kickbacks that netted the company over an estimated $220 million and recommended charges against the company]. Iraq no longer permits AWB wheat imports. BNP Paribas is believed to have made nearly $1.5 billion in kickbacks.

New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine signed into law Thursday legislation providing legal recognition to same-sex civil unions. The New Jersey Legislature passed the civil unions bill last week in response to an October New Jersey Supreme Court ruling that same-sex couples must be given equal rights. The court said the state legislature must decide within 180 days whether the state would recognize same-sex marriage or another form of civil partnership. The civil unions law will take effect February 19. AP has more.

Currently, Massachusetts is the only US state to allow full same-sex marriage, which was legalized when the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ruled in 2003 that a ban on such marriages was unconstitutional.

Judges on a US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit panel questioned how the Federal Communications Commission enforces indecency standards during oral arguments Wednesday in a challenge brought by the Fox television network. The FCC ruled that Fox violated indecency standards when two unscripted expletives were aired during the 2002 and 2003 Billboard Music Awards. The FCC did not impose a fine for the violations because they predated a change in FCC precedent allowing the agency to levy fines for isolated incidents.

Fox appealed the FCC ruling, arguing that the FCC standards are arbitrary. The federal appeals court questioned why certain words are considered indecent in the context of an awards show but wouldn't be indecent in other contexts, such as a news program. The FCC lawyer told the court that context plays a role in determining indecency and noted that if the offensive language was used in the news context, it would not likely be used to "pander, titillate, or for shock value."

US District Judge David Lawson of the Eastern District of Michigan has ruled that the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University can delay until July 1, 2007 implementing Proposal 2, an amendment to the Michigan Constitution banning affirmative action in public employment, public education and state contracting. Lawson's ruling, which came in a lawsuit filed just days after the amendment's passage, gives the universities time to complete the 2006-2007 admissions cycle under current procedures. Michigan voters approved  the constitutional amendment Nov. 7, and it was expected to take effect later this week. The Center for Individual Rights immediately criticized the ruling, and filed a motion seeking an emergency hearing to intervene in the lawsuit so the group can challenge Tuesday's ruling. AP has more.

In addition, a coalition of civil rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the Detroit Branch of the NAACP filed a lawsuit in federal court Tuesday challenging the constitutionality of Proposal 2 based on the US Supreme Court's 2003 ruling that the federal constitution permits the University of Michigan to consider race as a factor in the admissions process. The Supreme Court upheld the University law school admissions policy, while rejecting the more rigid undergraduate admissions system as discriminatory.

Pyongyang is still insisting that Washington lift financial measures against North Korean interests before Pyongyang will move ahead on the issue of dismantling its nuclear weapons program.

U.S. Treasury official Daniel Glaser, who met with North Korean financial officials on the sidelines of the nuclear talks earlier this week, says those talks were "businesslike and useful." But Glaser says further talks are needed before there can be any agreement between the two sides.

"We hope to get to do that. We've discussed the possibility of meeting next month, perhaps in New York," he said.

The dispute revolves around a bank in Macau, Banco Delta Asia, which Washington says helped North Korea with counterfeiting and money-laundering activities. U.S. restrictions on the bank have resulted in a North Korean account there with $24 million being frozen.

Thursday, amid cautious expressions of optimism, it was announced that the nuclear talks among North and South Korea, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia would be extended by a day until Friday.

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded $9,675,050 in grants today to public housing authorities across the U.S. The housing agencies use this funding to hire service coordinators who connect public housing residents with resources in the community to lead them to economic independence.

"An old Chinese proverb tells us it is better to teach one how to fish than to give one a fish, for the one who is taught will eat for a lifetime, not only a day," said HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson, who announced the funding today. "These grants are true to the proverb because they allow local housing agencies help low-income families thrive for a lifetime by leading them to employment that moves them to self-sufficiency, even homeownership."

The monies awarded are from HUD's Public Housing Family Self-Sufficiency (PH FSS) program, which awards grants to public housing authorities (PHAs) to hire service coordinators to link residents with supportive services that help them find education and job training.

PH FSS funding allows PHAs to hire program coordinators who work directly with residents to guide them to education and training opportunities, job placement organizations and local employers. Residents sign a contract to participate, which outlines their responsibilities towards completion of training and employment objectives up to a five-year period. For each participating family that is a recipient of welfare assistance, the PHA must establish an interim goal that the participating family be independent from welfare assistance prior to the expiration of the contract. During the period of participation, residents may earn an escrow credit based on increased earned income, which they may use in a variety of ways, including continuing their education or making a down payment toward home purchase.

A 2005 HUD study showed low-income families who participated in a similar HUD family self-sufficiency program saw their incomes increase at a higher rate than non-participants.