The EU on Wednesday approved new rules requiring telecommunications companies to retain records of phone and e-mail communications for up to a year to aid in anti-terror efforts in Europe. EU justice ministers approved the requirement over privacy and cost concerns after several years of debate on the issue. The rules oblige phone companies to [...]

A federal judge on Wednesday blocked New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer from investigating national banks' lending practices, which Spitzer believed to be charging minorities higher interest rates on home mortgage loans. US District Judge Sydney H. Stein ruled in favor of the Clearing House Association , an organization that represents federally chartered commercial banks [...]

The US Department of Justice has issued an apology for thefts by US soldiers of valuables belonging to Hungarian Jews found on a Nazi train captured at the close of World War II. The DOJ apologized for the "improper conduct" of some soldiers, who reportedly stole a variety of items from the "Gold Train," which [...]

The former CEO of Refco , one of the largest commodities brokerage firms in the world, was charged with securities fraud Wednesday for an alleged $430 million debt to the company that he hid from investors. Phillip R. Bennett, who was forced out of his position with the company on Monday, is accused of hiding [...]

The trial of 45 Italian police and medical staff accused of unlawful violence against protesters at the 2001 G8 summit in Genoa opened Wednesday. The charges stem from violent clashes between protestors and police outside the summit, resulting in injuries to more than 100 people and one death . Few of the accused were in [...]

AP is reporting that Iraq's parliament speaker has said that the National Assembly has approved a compromise deal on the Iraqi constitution . Under the deal , a commission will be established to consider future amendments to the charter, which would then be voted on by the National Assembly and thereafter submitted to the public [...]

Haiti's Supreme Court has ruled that a Haitian-born US citizen can run in the upcoming presidential elections . The country's provisional Electoral Council had decided that US businessman Dumarsais Simeus could not run in the election, but the high court ruled Tuesday that Simeus could run because the Electoral Council could not show that Simeus [...]

Senior Israeli Defense Forces officers, under instruction from Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz , asked the Israeli Supreme Court Tuesday to reconsider last week's ruling banning the use of Palestinian civilians as human shields . Mofaz stated that the current ruling will be enforced until another hearing is held, when he will personally present his arguments [...]

US District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee watched a videotaped confession Tuesday where Ahmed Omar Abu Ali , accused of plotting to assassinate President Bush, said that he was motivated by hatred of American support for Israel. Lee is currently considering a defense motion to throw out the confession; Abu Ali's lawyers say the confession was [...]

The British government introduced a tough new anti-terror bill in the House of Commons Wednesday, bringing forward measures anticipated since soon after the July 7 London bombings that killed 52 commuters. Among other things, the Terrorism Bill authorizes detention of suspects for 90 days without charge. The permissible detention period was extended to three months [...]