Mr. Hicks was one of the last surviving leaders of the Deacons for Defense and Justice, a paramilitary organization formed to protect people from the Ku Klux Klan.
The fight for the midterm elections is not confined to traditional battlegrounds as voter discontent surges, threatening Democratic control of Congress.
A Senate panel released messages Goldman Sachs executives sent in 2007 that appear to contradict its suggestion that it lost money on the housing market.
Richard Goldstone, the South African judge who had said threatened protests at his grandson’s bar mitzvah would keep him from attending, has reached an agreement with Jewish groups.
In Niger, China is sealing its reputation as Africa’s behind-the-scenes force, ready to do business regardless of who is in power or whatever outrage exists about it.