Senate Republican leaders plan to negotiate with the White House through the weekend to resolve different versions of a bill that would legislatively authorize the establishment of military commissions for suspected terrorists. Saturday's New York Times quotes Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner (R-VA) as saying that most provisions of the White House-sponsored Military [...]

German Chancellor Angela Merkel Saturday joined other Europeans in criticizing the Bush administration for admittedly operating clandestine Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) detention centers in Europe, a practice which she called "not compatible with my understanding of the rule of law." President Bush acknowledged the existence of secret CIA prisons outside the US for the first [...]

The Utah Supreme Court ruled on Friday that a University of Utah policy banning firearms on campus violates state law. In a 4-1 opinion , the court rejected the university's argument that as an autonomous entity under Article X of the state constitution , it could disregard state law that conflicted with its internal academic [...]

A Sudanese judge released American journalist Paul Salopek from detention Saturday the day after a meeting between Sudan President Omar al-Bashir and visiting New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson . Late last month Salopek and two others were arrested and charged for espionage and printing false information after they allegedly crossed into the war-torn Darfur region [...]

The City Council of Hazleton, Pennsylvania granted tentative approval to revisions to its controversial Illegal Immigration Relief Act on Friday in an attempt to help the law survive legal challenges. The changes shift burdens originally placed on businesses, now making it the city's responsibility to determine immigration statuses. The Council will vote Tuesday on whether [...]

US and European representatives are set to continue talks next week on an airline passenger data-sharing deal after officials were unable to agree Friday on a replacement for a previous agreement struck down by the European Court of Justice in May on privacy-related grounds. According to the court ruling, officials have until September 30 to [...]

UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Counterterrorism Martin Scheinin has urged Jordan to amend an anti-terrorism law approved last month by the country's National Assembly . Scheinin noted in a statement Friday that human rights advocates and opposition party leaders continue to criticize the measure and flagged several issues with the new law: One [...]

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced Friday that it was fining the American Red Cross $4.2 million for "failure to comply with requirements under Federal laws and FDA regulations relating to the collection of blood products" that had prompted the recall of 12,000 units of blood between 2003 and 2005. Margaret Glavin, FDA [...]

UN legal counsel Nicholas Michel said Friday at the end of a two-day visit to Lebanon that a special tribunal to try individuals connected with the February 2005 assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was closer to realization after his latest round of talks with Lebanese officials. Michel, formally the UN Under- Secretary-General for [...]

Conrad Black , the Canadian-born former chairman of media company Hollinger International , pleaded not guilty in Chicago Friday to the latest tax evasion charges he faces stemming from his initial November 2005 indictment related to the $2.1 billion sale of several hundred Canadian newspapers and alleged abuse of corporate perquisites at Hollinger. Black's trial [...]