The Israeli Cabinet on Sunday approved several amendments to the route of the Israeli security fence around Jerusalem and the West Bank and Israeli Prime Minister-designate Ehud Olmert urged that the barrier be completed as soon as possible. Following the deadly suicide bombing in Tel Aviv earlier this month, Olmert convened top security officials to [...]

US journalist Edward Caraballo, one of three US citizens jailed in 2004 on charges of running a private jail and torturing eight Afghan men, was released Sunday from Kabul's Pul-i-Charki prison by presidential decree. Caraballo, former US Green Beret Jonathan Idema , and ex-servicemen Brett Bennett entered Afghanistan on a freelance terrorist hunt and were [...]

The Egyptian parliament on Sunday extended the country's emergency laws for two more years in order to allow more time for the government to draft anti-terrorism legislation. The emergency laws, which would have expired in June, were implemented in 1981 in response to the assassination of former President Anwar Sadat and grant the Egyptian government [...]

In a ground-breaking political development in Nepalese history, the country's recently reinstated parliament on Sunday unanimously endorsed a proposal to hold elections for a constituent assembly that will draft a new constitution . "Honorable members, there was no 'nay' heard during the voice voting on the motion. I hereby declare that the resolution tabled by [...]

The Sudanese government said Sunday that it is ready to formally accept the peace deal mediated by the African Union for the war-torn region of Darfur . Majzoub al-Khalifa, head of the government negotiating team, said that Sudan is willing to sign the agreement despite some reservations and added, "The government wishes to confirm its [...]

Malawi Vice President Cassim Chilumpha has been arrested on treason charges for allegedly plotting to assassinate Malawi President Bingu wa Mutharika , Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Henry Phoya said Saturday. Chilumpha was arrested late Friday evening and Phoya said he allegedly asked a prominent businessman to hire an assassin to kill the president so [...]

The FBI issued a total of 9,254 National Security Letters (NSLs) in 2005 related to 3,501 US citizens and legal residents, according to a new US Department of Justice report. The NSLs allow the executive branch to gather information about individuals suspected in terrorism or espionage cases from banks, credit card, telephone and Internet companies [...]

Nepalese lawmakers pressing for wide-ranging changes to the country's constitution called Saturday for King Gyanendra to give up control of the army to put out of his reach a key instrument he used to assume direct control of the country in February 2005 when he effectively deposed the civilian government of then-Prime Minister Sher Bahadur [...]

Lester Crawford , the embattled former head of the US Food and Drug Administration who stepped down in September 2005 after only three months in office in the midst of a furor over the agency's refusal to authorize over-the-counter distribution of Plan B emergency contraceptives , is under criminal investigation by a grand jury for [...]

The British lawyer serving as chief prosecutor for the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone , the West African war crimes court that will try recently-captured ex-Liberian president Charles Taylor for war crimes and crimes against humanity, announced Friday he would step down June 30 when his contract expires after only a year in the [...]