Who is Herman Van Rompuy. This is a name that many around the world and even around Europe don't know. However, the little known Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy was chosen today by the leaders of the EU member countries to be the first European Union President. He will be the first full time President of the European Council. British Catherine Ashton will be the first EU Foreign Policy chief.

Former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani will not be running for governor of New York next year, according to a report in the New York Times. This is most definitely a huge disappointment to Republicans who considered Giuliani a strong candidate in a time of political unrest in the State of New York.

The heads of the European Union just started their summit in Brussels to select top three EU posts as the Lisbon Treaty, envisioning a European President, came into force after all-member ratification. The summit starts at 5PM Brussels time (11AM EST) and will include a dinner. The decision is expected either late tonight or sometimes tomorrow. It is possible that one of the posts may be occupied by a woman candidate, while UK hopes to secure at lest one position.

Shades of "Sully" Sullenberger, who saved all of the 155 passengers on U.S. Airways flight 1549 when he successfully ditched an Airbus A320 in the Hudson River. A CareFlight pilot has been labeled a hero in Australia after successfully ditching in the Pacific Ocean.

U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval ruled in favor of New Orleans residents late Wednesday. He agreed that the Army Corps of Engineers' failure to properly maintain a navigation channel led to massive flooding by Hurricane Katrina along the Gulf Coast in 2005.

The Afghan minister of mines denies that he accepted a bribe of equivalent to 32 million U.S. dollars. The bribe said to come from a large Chinese mining firm is the largest reported today. This is the biggest accusation to date in a region swimming in opportunity for drugs, arms dealers, and other predatory business.

Somali pirates attack US-flagged Maersk Alabama for second time but the ship was not overtaken. Somali pirates opened fire on the Maersk Alabama with automatic weapons early on Wednesday morning.

Over the next few week NATO forces will order substantially more troops into Afghanistan. The alliance's secretary general predicts that they will engage in broad counter-insurgent strategy pending President Obama's decision on what course to take.

Italy's Foreign Minister leads the push to create a European army for the post-Lisbon EU. As a new Europe takes shape following the adoption of the Lisbon treaty the Minister suggests that Europe should not be left behind the superpowers.

Single mother and Army cook Spc. Alexis Hutchinson was scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan along with her unit on Nov. 5. Instead, she is under arrest and confined to an Army base in Savannah, Ga., because she chose to skip her flight in order to care for her infant son.