US and European diplomats have reached an interim agreement on new trans-Atlantic airline passenger data-sharing policies . Under the new regulations, airlines must continue to share 34 pieces of passenger data, including passenger names, addresses and credit card information within 15 minutes of a plane's departure to the US. A number of US counter-terrorism agencies [...]

The lawyer for Australian Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks is pushing the Australian government to ask the US for Hicks' return by Christmas, allowing him to be kept under a control order authorized by last year's anti-terror legislation . David McLeod, Hicks' lawyer in Adelaide, emphasized that Hicks has already served five years in a [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has granted an emergency injunction suspending the application of Arizona's controversial voter ID law a month before the November 7 general election. The law, which Arizonans approved in 2004 as Proposition 200 , requires voters to show a government-issued ID at the polls. Last month, a [...]

Ramsey Clark , former US Attorney General and a member of the Saddam Hussein defense team, predicted Thursday that the execution of the former Iraqi dictator would lead to "catastrophic violence" and "total, unmitigated chaos." During a press conference, Clark theorized that Sunni Muslims in Iraq would view an execution as revenge taken by the [...]

Former Hewlett-Packard chairwoman Patricia Dunn and former ethics officer Kevin Hunsaker surrendered to authorities Thursday and agreed to face felony charges stemming from their roles in the corporate spying scandal . After a brief hearing, Dunn was released on her own recognizance. She will return to court for a November 17 arraignment. Hunsaker's arraignment date [...]

The US House Ethics Committee Thursday opened its investigation into allegations of misconduct related to the House Page program , issuing nearly four dozen subpoenas for witnesses and documents, according to statements issued by the Committee leadership. A special bipartisan subcommittee, set up under HR 1065 , is being led by Doc Hastings (R-WA) , [...]

California’s First District State Court of Appeal upheld a state ban on gay marriage Thursday. In a 2-1 decision , the court held that the ban was not unconstitutional because it did not violate any "vested fundamental right" of gays and lesbians. The move overturns a March 2005 ruling by San Francisco Superior Court Judge [...]

US President George W. Bush attached a signing statement to the 2007 spending bill for the Homeland Security Department Thursday, giving himself the authority to make changes to the agency's annual Privacy Office reports. Congress stated that only the Department's Privacy Officer could edit the reports, designed to ensure that the Department obeys privacy rules. [...]

The Federal Trade Commission announced Thursday that it has reached an agreement for the settlement of pretexting charges against Virginia-based Integrity Security & Investigation Services . Current federal law allows the government to only collect $2,700 in damages, the entire sum of profit that the company made from selling confidential phone records and credit card [...]

Israel's High Court Thursday gave the state five days to explain why it appointed government officials to investigate its handling of the recent Hezbollah conflict rather than establish an independent inquiry committee. The Movement for Quality Government in Israel last week called on the High Court to intervene as part of its campaign for a [...]