Verdict

We might not have needed a study to figure this one out: The stunning news coverage of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks tops the list of the most enduring TV moments in history for Americans. The searing images, the heartbreaking stories of the dead and missing, and the nonstop media coverage made for a singular moment in U.S. history, according to a survey -- released Wednesday by Nielsen in partnership with Sony Electronics -- about Americans' top 20 most memorable TV moments of the last 50 years.

CHICAGO - Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Thursday called the healthcare decision “historic,” noting that presidents from both parties for decades before Obama tried and failed to expand medical coverage. As Obama's chief of staff at the beginning of the term, Emanuel was a key player in passing the law through Congress, where he previously served. It's a good thing the president ignored his warnings about the political peril of wading into health care, Emanuel told reporters.

The jury in the Jerry Sandusky case has reached a verdict that will be announced Friday evening, court officials announced. The jury of seven women and five men deliberated about 20 hours over two days before reaching the verdict on the charges against the former Penn State University football coach. Sandusky, 68, is charged with 48 counts of abusing 10 boys over 15 years. If convicted on all counts, he could face hundreds of years in prison. Earlier, Joseph Amendola, Sandusky's lawyer, told reporters that he would “die of a heart attack” if his client were acquitted on all counts.

BELLEFONTE, Pa. - Closing a chapter in a scandal that shocked the nation and tarnished a prestigious university, a jury convicted Jerry Sandusky on 45 counts of sexual abuse Friday night, believing the graphic testimony of young men over a defense team that portrayed the celebrated former Penn State assistant football coach as devoted mentor. Moments after the verdict was read in the courtroom, Sandusky, 68, rose from his seat with tears in his eyes, one of his lawyers said. When his bail of $250,000 was revoked, Sandusky gave a small wave to his family and was led away in handcuffs to a waiting sheriff's car to be taken to the Centre County jail.

WASHINGTON -- Television cameras will surround the Supreme Court Thursday morning, as they did Monday, anticipating something that may, again, not happen. The momentous healthcare decision could be announced Thursday. Or not. All we really know is that it is extremely likely to be handed down by the following Thursday, June 28, when the court is expected to end its current term. The court works in secrecy as it prepares its opinions, and outsiders might be surprised to learn that   some of its  work is done at the last minute.

Bud Selig belatedly wanted the truth on baseball's steroid era. He said so, six years ago. His investigators spent more than 20 months on the case, and more than $20 million. They delivered some trophy names, most prominent among them Roger Clemens. On Monday, a federal jury rendered this verdict on the Clemens evidence in that report: unbelievable, on all counts. The steroid era will haunt Selig for the rest of his days. The truth will remain forever murky. The bill will come due every year, when fans and voters debate whether to divide the Hall of Fame ballot into cheaters and non-cheaters.

When two finalists emerged from the first round of Egypt's presidential election - the candidate of the Muslim Brotherhood and a former prime minister under President Hosni Mubarak - it seemed that the country was on its way to fulfilling at least one of the promises of last year's uprising: a popularly elected head of state. They were not the candidates we would have selected, perhaps, but they offered a clear choice for voters nevertheless. The importance of the election, which will culminate in a runoff on June 16 and 17, should not be obscured by controversy over the verdict in the trial of Mubarak and several associates.

SEATTLE--An Oregon woman has won a $900,000 jury verdict against a retired dentist who gave her a surprise case of herpes on their fourth date - the latest of a few large damage awards for an affliction so common it has become a ubiquitous feature of dating life. The jury in Portland deliberated only two hours before finding that the woman was only 25% responsible for contracting the sexually transmitted disease that subsequently made her life a misery - while the man who neglected to tell her until after they'd had sex would have to compensate her for her pain and suffering.

CAIRO - The life sentence imposed on toppled President Hosni Mubarak for complicity in the deaths of hundreds of protesters marks an unprecedented milestone in Egypt's path toward democracy yet serves as a reminder of the political limitations challenging rebellions that have swept the Arab world. Mubarak epitomized the calculating autocrat, and Saturday's verdict reverberated across a region that has seldom seen the strong so precipitously tumble in popular revolt. But behind the image of the disgraced leader propped up on a stretcher in the defendants' cage remains a nation not fully free of his grasp.

GREENSBORO, N.C. - An eighth day of jury deliberations in the John Edwards trial passed without a verdict Wednesday, but not without several episodes of drama that played out behind closed doors. After receiving a note from a juror, U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles cleared the courtroom, twice, to confer privately with prosecutors and defense lawyers. Eagles provided no details, and defense lawyers and the court clerk declined to comment after jurors went home for the day. The same issue also prompted the judge to meet twice in her chambers with the lawyers.