A federal court in California sentenced two former Enron executives Wednesday to probation for their roles in Enron's manipulation of electricity supplies during the 2000-01 West Coast energy crisis. Timothy Belden , former head of Enron's West Coast power trading who pleaded guilty to deliberately submitting false data to California electricity operators to drive up [...]

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and drug manufacturer Merck Pharmaceuticals reached a $2.3 billion agreement on Wednesday that will settle all outstanding tax disputes from 1993 to 2006. According to an IRS statement, the settlement, one of the largest in recent history, resolves federal taxes, interest after deductions, and penalties on many issues, including three [...]

The Nigerian House of Representatives held public hearings Wednesday on a proposed bill to criminalize homosexuality . The bill would authorize a maximum five-year sentence for any person found to be openly gay or practicing homosexual acts. Religious groups say the bill is necessary to protect public morality, but gay activists said it will violate [...]

The trial of 29 people suspected of involvement in the 2004 Madrid train bombings that killed 191 people began Thursday in the National Court of Spain. The defendants , mostly of Moroccan descent, are charged with 192 counts of murder and upwards of 1,800 counts of attempted murder related to the March 11, 2004 bombings, [...]

Two San Francisco Chronicle reporters will escape jail time after a defense lawyer for BALCO founder Victor Conte admitted Wednesday in court filings that he allowed reporters Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada to see transcripts of the grand jury testimony of several baseball stars, including Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi, and Gary Sheffield, regarding the steroids [...]

On the same day the defense rested in the perjury trial of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby , US District Judge Reggie B. Walton on Wednesday ruled against Libby on several issues after it became clear that Libby was not going to testify in his self-defense, as defense lawyers had previously said he would. Libby's defense [...]

UK Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer on Wednesday backed a proposal to allow police officers to question terror suspects after they have been formally charged. Following a speech defending the UK Human Rights Act , Falconer implied in response to questions that the post-charge questioning proposal could also extend to serious criminal offenses besides terrorism. Current [...]

The Ecuador Congress voted Tuesday to hold a referendum on whether Ecuador should form a constitutional assembly to rewrite its constitution . The vote is seen as a victory for the reform agenda of President Rafael Correa , who wants to change the constitution to restrain powerful political parties , increase government accountability, and hold [...]

Switzerland is launching a criminal probe into the alleged unlawful use of Swiss airspace by US agents in anti-terrorist operations after authorization Wednesday by the Swiss Federal Council , which said in a statement that there was evidence that "basic norms of international law were violated." The investigation will center around the abduction of Muslim [...]

President Bush on Wednesday issued an executive order establishing military commissions for enemy combatants held by the US. According to White House officials, the order is required under the Military Commissions Act of 2006 (MCA) to proceed with trials for terror suspects detained at the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay . It will facilitate [...]