Top Stories - The Christian Science Monitor

San Francisco - In California, a Global Position System (GPS) device is strapped to every registered sex offender on parole. The system is supposed to keep the public safe – and make it easier for parole agents to track dangerous felons. But that system is broken, and giving the public "a false sense of security," according to a new report.

New York - The United Nations General Assembly approved Thursday afternoon a resolution that calls on both Israel and the Palestinians to investigate the accusations of war crimes in last winter's Gaza incursion as described in a UN-commissioned report.

The shootings at the Army's Fort Hood in Texas Thursday were an "isolated incident," according to military officials.

Washington - The case of Nidal Malik Hasan, the Army psychiatrist who is the primary suspect in the Fort Hood shooting spree Thursday that killed 13 people, is pointing up the enormous need to help soldiers overwhelmed by the stress – or even the prospect – of serving in wartime.

Washington - The US Supreme Court on Wednesday took up the difficult issue of what to do about unscrupulous prosecutors willing to induce false testimony and hide exculpatory evidence to convict innocent defendants.

New York - On Wednesday night, the New York Yankees rode one player – Hideki Matsui – to their 27th World Series title with a 7-3 win over the defending champions, the Philadelphia Phillies.

Los Angeles - Jay Leno may not be a "whiner," as he put it in response to the criticism his new 10 p.m. prime time show has faced. But this week, he certainly had plenty to worry about as his freshman variety show on NBC, airing five nights a week against mostly scripted dramas on the other networks, fell behind a re-run of CSI: Miami.

Washington - Adm. Mike Mullen, America's top military officer, said Wednesday that he is comfortable with the length of time it is taking for the White House to come to a decision on the way forward in Afghanistan.

New York - Mohamed ElBaradei, the outgoing director of the United Nation's nuclear watchdog agency, has a categorically negative view of the world's nuclear security system.

United Nations, N.Y. - The United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday takes up a UN human rights report that accuses Israel of committing war crimes in last winter's military offensive into Gaza.

Washington - Has North Korea just become a bigger nuclear threat?

Los Angeles - LAPD Deputy Chief Charlie Beck, a three-decade veteran of the force, will succeed William Bratton as Chief of Police, L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced Tuesday. The mayor spent the better part of a 30-minute press conference Tuesday praising Mr. Beck's rise through the ranks to take charge of the Rampart Division, which was struggling with fallout from a 1999 corruption scandal.

NASA's Mercury mission spacecraft, Messenger, is revolutionizing humanity's view of the first rock from the sun. And its primary science mission hasn't even started yet.

Washington - Eight federal judges are continuing to press their claim that Congress violated the Constitution's compensation clause when it failed to honor promised judicial salary increases in five separate years between 1995 and 2007.

Philadelphia - The New York Yankees may have Alex Rodriguez. But the Philadelphia Phillies have Chase Utley, a home-run-hitting phenom.

Los Angeles - The biggest challenges facing the next police chief of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), to be announced Tuesday, will be to find his own voice – and to finish the reforms started by outgoing chief William Bratton, say community activists, city officials, and police watchdog groups.

Washington - Iran's steady production of low-enriched uranium is a clock that is ticking away as Tehran develops its nuclear program.

Washington - Which is more likely to grab and hold attention: third-world hunger or global food security?

Washington - President Hamid Karzai's victory in the Afghanistan election, declared Monday, adds urgency to the Obama administration's ongoing review of American strategy and troop levels there.

New Delhi - The Afghan elections have officially ended, and President Hamid Karzai will hold on to his office for five more years, the election commission declared Monday after rival Abdullah Abdullah dropped out of the race.

San Francisco - Six days after it was closed because of a failed repair job, snarling traffic throughout the Bay Area and raising fresh safety concerns, the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge reopened around 9 a.m. Monday.

Washington - The Obama administration on Monday embraced the second term of Afghan President Hamid Karzai – a leader whom the US under President Obama had until recently dismissed as too corrupt to serve as a partner for the international effort in Afghanistan.

Washington - The US Supreme Court has declined to decide whether the federal statute of limitations bars the prosecution of a former Ku Klux Klan (KKK) member accused of kidnapping and murdering two black teens in 1964.

Philadelphia - Up until Game 4 of the World Series, New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez, by his own admission, had done very little except strike out or hit majestic fly balls.

San Francisco - The case of a 15-year-old girl who was raped outside her high school homecoming dance last weekend is likely to raise legal questions about who was merely a witness and who was an accomplice.

An admitted Al Qaeda sleeper agent who arrived in the US one day before the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon was sentenced to eight years and four months in prison on Thursday.

Which states have set a high bar for their students – and which states have low expectations?

Los Angeles - Early reviews of Michael Jackson's documentary film, "This Is It," suggest that it could mark the beginning of a restoration of Mr. Jackson's reputation. Now, a group of lawyers and marketers are focused on the question of who has the right to profit from that career now that Jackson is gone.