Four US federal appeals court nominees requested Tuesday that their names be withdrawn from consideration by the Senate , according to Republican party officials. Each of the nominees, Michael Wallace, William Haynes, William Myers and Terrence Boyle , were opposed by Democrats and failed to gain confirmation before the Senate began its vacation in December. [...]

Faced with possible indictment by an Italian judge, US and Italian intelligence agents implicated in the 2003 kidnapping and extraordinary rendition from Milan of Egyptian cleric Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr Tuesday pressed for a political resolution of their case. Hearings to decide the legal fate of some 30 operatives have begun after a December request [...]

The US Supreme Court handed down decisions in three cases Tuesday, including US v. Resendiz-Ponce , where the Court upheld the conviction of Juan Resendiz-Ponce on charges of attempting to re-enter the United States illegally from Mexico after being deported. The indictment in the case did not allege an overt act showing that he tried [...]

The Pitcairn Supreme Court found two more men guilty Tuesday of rape and related offences against children as young as seven. The latest conviction of Shawn Christian and Brian Young follow the six other men convicted in October 2004 of committing sexual abuse against women and underage girls on the British possession of Pitcairn Island [...]

Fazul Abdullah Mohammed , one of the FBI's most wanted terror fugitives, was the target of two US air strikes in Somalia on Monday. Believed to be a member of al-Qaida and to have trained with Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan, Fazul is listed as the alleged mastermind behind the 1998 bombings of the US [...]

The former head of the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity Ayham al-Samaraie , who escaped from a Baghdad prison in December, has said he plans to return to his home in the United States. Al-Samaraie, a member of the 2004-2005 interim Iraqi government , was serving a two-year sentence after being convicted on corruption charges brought [...]

Opening statements were made Tuesday in insurance lawsuits brought against State Farm Fire & Casualty brought by policyholders who were denied claims after Hurricane Katrina . Judge L.T. Senter Jr. of the US District for the Southern District of Mississippi denied State Farm’s motion for change of venue, stating that State Farm’s claim that juries [...]

US President George Bush announced Tuesday that Fred F. Fielding will serve as the new White House counsel . Fielding, who has advised Bush throughout his presidency and sat on the 9/11 Commission , will replace Harriet Miers , who announced her resignation last week. Bush praised Miers, saying "she has devoted herself to the [...]

German Federal Minister of Justice Brigitte Zypries said at a press conference Monday that Germany will attempt to make denial of the World War II-era Holocaust in which millions of Jews died at the hands of the Nazis illegal throughout the European Union. The plan is part of Germany's platform for its 2007 EU Presidency [...]

The number of detainees on hunger-strike at Guantanamo Bay has increased this month to 11 from five as the detention center's fifth anniversary approaches on Thursday. US military spokesman have in the past insisted that hunger strikes are a typical tactic of Al-Qaeda members, designed to achieve their release so that they can return to [...]