Resignation

RICHMOND — Virginia's health commissioner abruptly stepped down Thursday over new regulations requiring abortion facilities to meet strict, hospital-style building standards that many clinics contend they cannot afford . Dr. Karen Remley, a pediatrician who since 2008 had helped the state snuff out smoking in restaurants, respond to the swine flu and begin to grapple with the ongoing fungal meningitis outbreak, said she could not...

PRAGUE — Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas announced Sunday that he will resign over a spy and bribery scandal involving his government. Necas said he also will quit on Monday as chairman of his conservative Civic Democratic Party. He has been under pressure to quit since police conducted raids all across the country this week and arrested eight people, including Necas' closest aide and the head of his office, Jana Nagyova. She was charged with ordering a military intelligence agency to...

GOV. ELIOT SPITZER, D-N.Y.: In the past few days I have begun to atone for my private failings with my wife Silda, my children and my entire family. The remorse I feel will also be with me. Words cannot describe how grateful I am for the love and compassion they have shown me. From those to whom much is given, much is expected. I have been given much: the love of my family, the faith and trust of the people of New York, and the chance to lead this state. I am deeply sorry that I did not live up to what was expected of me. To every New...

HOUSTON — Rick Greenspan says he is resigning as Rice University's athletic director after three years in the position. In a statement issued by the university Thursday, Greenspan says he will leave June 30 to expand his consulting business and pursue other opportunities offered him. Rice had hired the former West Point and Indiana AD to run its athletics department in March 2010. Since then, the department has raised funds for an $8 million tennis center to be built this summer and...

CIA Director David H. Petraeus resigned Friday and admitted to having an extramarital affair, bringing a shocking end to his brief tenure at the spy agency and highly decorated national security career. The affair came to light as part of an FBI investigation into a potential security breach involving Petraeus's e-mails, according to federal law enforcement officials and a former senior intelligence official. The investigation uncovered e-mails describing an affair between Petraeus and Paula Broadwell, a former military officer and...

URBANA, Ill. -- Trustees at the University of Illinois have accepted the resignation of the school's president in the wake of an admissions scandal. Joseph White will officially leave his job at the end of this year. The trustees also named former university president Stanley Ikenberry as the temporary replacement for White. Ikenberry was president at the University of Illinois from 1979 through 1995. The university has been caught up in a scandal over political influence affecting which...

Here is CIA Director David H. Petraeus's resignation statement, sent to agency employees Friday afternoon: Message from the Director Yesterday afternoon, I went to the White House and asked the President to be allowed, for personal reasons, to resign from my position as D/CIA. After being married for over 37 years, I showed extremely poor judgment by engaging in an extramarital affair. Such behavior is unacceptable, both as a husband and as the leader of an organization such as ours.

Montgomery County 's embattled planning director, Rollin Stanley, announced Thursday that he is stepping down in mid-May to take a job in another jurisdiction. Stanley told members of the Planning Board during their regularly scheduled meeting and then met with staff. He would not specify where his new job will be, saying that his new employer hopes to make a formal announcement next week. Stanley was appointed planning director in 2008. His resignation — first reported on the Web site Maryland Juice —...

West Virginia University President Michael Garrison announced his resignation yesterday, seeking to end a scandal stemming from the university's awarding of an unearned degree to the governor's daughter. Garrison said he hoped his resignation, effective in September, would end the turmoil at the university, where in recent months faculty members have passed a resolution of no confidence in him, alumni have withdrawn millions of dollars in gifts, and students have expressed fear that their degrees...

Alexandria Police Chief David P. Baker ended his 40-year career in law enforcement Tuesday with a short, melancholy letter to the members of his department, three days after his drunken driving arrest. "It is with a great deal of humility and remorse that I announce my retirement from the Alexandria Police Department," he wrote. ". . . Words cannot describe the pride I feel having had the opportunity to lead such a great department. " His undoing came Saturday night in Arlington, where he collided with a car,...

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Minnesota Wild re-signed left wing Stephane Veilleux to a two-year, two-way contract Wednesday. The 31-year-old Veilleux played most of last season with Houston in the AHL. As a late call-up for more energy for the fourth line, he appeared in two of Minnesota's playoff games against Chicago. The two-way contract means he'll have a lesser salary if he's in the minors. The Wild have moved their AHL affiliate to Iowa for the 2013-14 season. Veilleux was a third-round draft...

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Theodore Whitmore has resigned as Jamaica's soccer coach amid a World Cup qualifying losing streak. Jamaica Football Federation President Horace Burrell announced the move Wednesday. Jamaica lost 2-0 to Honduras on Tuesday following losses to Mexico and the U.S. Burrell says a "coach's tenure depends on the results" and the team's performance under Whitmore has "not been good. " He says a new coach will be in place in the next few days. Copyright...

WASHINGTON — CIA deputy director Michael Morell resigns. Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported the amount of time that Mahaley Jones has been absent from her job due to her husband's health. She has been caring for her husband since April, not since late winter as reported earlier. This version has been corrected. The District's state superintendent of education, Hosanna Mahaley Jones, is stepping down to help her husband recover from a heart attack. Mayor Vincent C. Gray (D) announced Mahaley...

NEW DELHI — Lal Krishna Advani, one of the founding members of India's main opposition party, resigned from all party positions Monday, a day after the party appointed a controversial Hindu ideologue to lead its campaign in national elections next year. Advani, the most senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party, stepped away to show his opposition to the elevation of Narendra Modi, now likely the party's choice for prime minister if it wins in 2014. Modi, the chief...

PARIS — A man who jumped onto the court with a fiery flare spurting white smoke briefly interrupted the French Open final Sunday between Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer. The topless spectator wearing a white mask surged from the crowd near Nadal as the Spanish player was about to serve for the second set, leading 5-1. The man had the words "Kids right" written on his belly. Security personnel wrestled the man to the ground and quickly hauled him away. "I felt...

The medical director who ushered in important changes in D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services procedures submitted his resignation yesterday to Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) and Fire Chief Dennis L. Rubin. "I think it was thought best that I resign," said Michael D. Williams, when reached by phone last night. He declined further comment, referring questions to the chief and mayor. He will leave Aug. 29. Deputy Fire Chief Kenneth L. Crosswhite, a department spokesman, said Rubin accepted the resignation after receiving the...

VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI turned 85 on Monday (April 16) amid renewed speculation about his declining health and possible resignation. The German-born pope has appeared tired and fatigued in recent months and admitted at a morning Mass to being in "the final leg of the path of my life. " But on Sunday, he signaled his resolve to carry on with his duties as leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics, asking the faithful to pray that he have the "strength" to "fulfill his mission.

TRIPOLI, Libya — Libya's army chief of staff resigned on Sunday as an elite military unit took control of a base of pro-government militias after clashes killed 31 people in the eastern city of Benghazi. The developments underlined the security chaos in Libya more than a year and a half after longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi was deposed in a civil war. The violence broke out Saturday when protesters stormed a base belonging to Libya Shield, a grouping of militias aligned with the...

WILMINGTON, Del. — A former Wilmington police officer accused of bigamy has pleaded guilty to making a false statement. The News Journal of Wilmington reports (http://delonline.us/17tAZTv ) that Wilbur Justice Jr. pleaded guilty last week to making a false statement on marriage paperwork. Justice was originally charged with one count of bigamy and two counts of filing a false instrument. Attorney Tom Foley says Justice filed for divorce last year and wrongly...