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Gun owners are praising the U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down a ban on handgun ownership in the District of Columbia, which has one of the strictest laws of its kind. Chicago's is similar, and some gun owners there filed a lawsuit Thursday challenging the city's anti-gun law.

The Supreme Court has outlawed executions of people convicted of raping a child. The court was considering a Louisiana law that allowed for such executions. The ruling said the law violates the Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

Intelligence agencies are debating the effects of climate change on national security. A classified assessment delivered to Congress concludes that rising global temperatures would indirectly present a security threat to the United States.

In California, two elderly women were one of the first same-sex couples to marry in the state. Their marriage begins a busy week for county registrars around the Golden State. The state's Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage took effect Monday.

In Iowa, devastating floodwaters are beginning to inch their way down the southern part of the state. The next city that's in jeopardy of being swamped is the railroad hub of Burlington. Residents are digging in to try to save their town.

NATO troops and Afghan government forces are battling Taliban militants on the outskirts of the southern city of Kandahar. Taliban fighters seized villages in the Arghandab valley, just north of Kandahar earlier this week.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have the right to seek their release in federal court. The 5-4 decision was a stinging rebuke to President Bush's anti-terrorism policies, and reaction from law experts and Bush allies was swift.

Barack Obama's presidential campaign said Wednesday that Jim Johnson, the head of Obama's vice-presidential selection team, resigned. Presumptive GOP presidential nominee John McCain has said Johnson was the type of Washington insider the Illinois senator promised to campaign against.

The dust, which came from distant stars, is thought to be similar to grains that eventually helped form the planets, including Earth.

In Zimbabwe, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew Sunday from the upcoming runoff election. Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, said he's stepping down because he can no longer watch his supporters being killed for the sake of power.