Sotomayor "is an inspiring woman who I believe will make a great justice," Obama said at a White House announcement.

She "has worked at almost every level of our judicial system, providing her with a depth of experience and a breadth of perspective that will be invaluable as a Supreme Court justice," he added.

Obama said Sotomayor would bring more experience on the bench than anyone currently serving on the Supreme Court when appointed.

"Thank you, Mr. President, for the most humbling honor of my life," Sotomayor said. She thanked family members and mentors who helped her throughout her life and career.

The president met with Sotomayor at the White House for an hour Thursday, according to senior administration officials.

He was impressed with Sotomayor's personal story and professional qualifications after meeting her, but he did not immediately offer her the job, two senior administration sources added.

U.S. District Court Judge Ronald Lagueux (LAH'-guh) ruled Wednesday the defendants cannot set aside the judgment against them because they didn't respond to the accusations from the victims' family.

The lawsuit was filed in Providence by relatives of Yaron Ungar (YAH'-rohn UNG'-er) and his wife, Efrat. The Ungars were killed by Hamas gunmen near the West Bank in June 1996. Yaron Ungar also held Israeli citizenship.

The lawsuit said the Palestinian Authority and the PLO offered a safe haven to members of Hamas.

The defendants have denied responsibility.

"The president is free to nominate whomever he likes," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. "But picking judges based on his or her perceived sympathy for certain groups or individuals undermines the faith Americans have in our judicial system."

McConnell's Republicans are turning to a conservative Southerner as their point man on Obama's nominee, signaling that they won't shy away from a protracted fight despite risks of being cast as obstructionist.

Sen. Jeff Sessions' ascension as the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee comes more than 20 years after the panel rejected him for his own federal judgeship during the Reagan administration over concerns that he was hostile toward civil rights and was racially insensitive.

Coincidentally, Sessions, R-Ala., replaces Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, a moderate who was one of just two Republicans in 1986 to oppose Sessions as a U.S. district court judge. Specter left the GOP last week to become a Democrat, creating the vacancy atop the committee just as Justice David Souter announced his retirement.

After a four-year legal dispute, a jury last year awardedMattel $10 million for copyright infringement and $90 million forbreach of contract.

After the verdict, Mattel sought to block MGAfrom ever making the Bratz dolls, and Larson ordered the company inDecember to end its sales in early 2009.

MGA argued thatretailers would not order the toys unless the court could guaranteethey would remain in stores through most of this year. MGA got areprieve in January when Larson ruled that the dolls could remain instores for the rest of the year.

He left open the possibility that Mattel or a court-appointed receiver could ultimately market the dolls this year.

A hearing is scheduled for May 18 to discuss whether the receivership should be made permanent.

Prosecutors had sought an 18-month prison term for Park Dae-Sung, 30 --better known by his Internet alias "Minerva" -- while some mediafreedom groups criticised the decision to charge him.

Parkwas arrested in early January and charged with spreading online rumoursthat the government in late December ordered local banks not to buydollars as part of efforts to stabilise the won.

Prosecutorsclaimed the December posting led to dollar hoarding, forcing thegovernment hurriedly to inject two billion dollars to stabilise thecurrency market.

"Considering all the circumstances, it is hardto conclude that Park was aware the information was misleading when hewrote the postings," said Judge Yoo Young-Hyun of Seoul CentralDistrict Court.

The judge said that even if Park had realised theinformation was false, it cannot be concluded he intended to damage thepublic interest, considering the circumstances at the time or thespecial characteristics of the foreign exchange market.

Parkwrote more than 200 economic commentaries in recent months and gained amajor following after correctly predicting the collapse of USinvestment bank Lehman Brothers last September.

Law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell recruited the Securities andExchange Commission's former enforcement chief and another formerhigh-level government lawyer to join its white-collar defense group,part of an effort to expand its Washington practice.
Linda Chatman Thomsen, who left the SEC earlier this year, and RaulYanes, former staff secretary to President George W. Bush, are joiningthe law firm as partners.

Both had worked at Davis Polk in New York before joining the government.

The duo will be the first litigators in the 11-person Washington office in years.

FormerSEC Commissioner Annette Nazareth and Robert Colby, a former deputydirector of the SEC's trading and markets division, also recentlyjoined the firm's Washington office to focus on financial regulatoryissues.

Davis Polk clients, including large financialinstitutions, are closely entangled with the government as it haspumped billions of dollars into financial rescue plans. Congress isstudying new regulation of financial markets.