A U.S. Justice Department official said Tuesday the agency plans to release new guidance next year on foreign bribery civil and criminal enforcement provisions. Whether it will appease critics of stepped-up Foreign Corrupt Practices Act investigations and prosecutions is another question.

The White House is knocking down rumors racing across Washington, D.C., today that President Obama has decided on Solicitor General Elena Kagan as the next nominee to the Supreme Court, and that he’ll announce it on Monday after a leak to the Associated Press on Sunday. “Pure speculation,” a White House official said, adding that no decision has been made. Still, advocacy groups have been offering to be quoted on Kagan’s nomination as if it’s a done deal.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced Thursday that Les Schwab Tire Centers, based in Seattle, has agreed to pay $2 million to resolve claims that it failed to hire qualified women for tire-changing jobs at its stores in Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada and Utah.

President Barack Obama plans to nominate an openly gay lawyer as the United States’ ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa, an administration official said Wednesday. If confirmed by the Senate, David Huebner would be the administration’s first openly gay ambassador. Presidents Bill Clinton and George W.