The Federal Election Commission on Thursday dismissed complaints that Republican and conservative groups acted improperly to get third-party candidate Ralph Nader on the ballot during the 2004 presidential campaign. Nader said the complaints were "frivolous". The FEC said they had no reason to believe that any of the groups broke the law. Earlier this year, [...]

Lawyers for jailed Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky said Friday that they will appeal his conviction on tax and fraud evasion charges to the European Court of Human Rights . A Moscow court Thursday denied Khodorkovsky's appeal and an appeal to the Russian Supreme Court is also planned, but a ruling from the Russian court [...]

Former HealthSouth finance chief Weston Smith was sentenced to 27 months in prison followed by one year of probation and ordered to forfeit $1.5 million in assets Thursday for his role in the company's accounting scandal . In June, the company's former CEO Richard Scrushy was acquitted of all charges during his trial in connection [...]

Army Spc. Charles Graner took the stand Thursday in court-martial proceedings against Pfc. Lynndie England , who is facing conspiracy, maltreatment of subordinates and indecent acts charges stemming from the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal. Graner, who was found guilty and sentenced to 10 years in January for leading the prisoner abuse, did not testify [...]

Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH), chairman of the US House Subcommittee on the Constitution , said Thursday that legislation restricting state and local government's ability to take private property for private development could be presented to the full House Judiciary Committee in the next few weeks and could be ready for a vote in the US [...]

The US House Resources Committee Thursday approved the Threatened and Endangered Species Recovery Act , legislation that would overhaul the Endangered Species Act by limiting the government's ability to protect plant and animal habitat while giving new development rights to property owners. The House Committee says that the new legislation is needed because "the Endangered [...]

Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani , Iraq's most powerful Shiite cleric, said Thursday that he endorsed the draft Iraqi constitution and called for officials in the Shiite Muslim hierarchy to promote a "yes" vote in the upcoming national referendum. Al-Sistani's endorsement comes as Sunni Arab clerics and tribal leaders called for rejection of the charter . [...]

Leading Thursday's states brief, the Florida Supreme Court ruled today that gun makers, sued by cities and counties seeking to recover the costs of providing services for gun-related violence, are not covered by their commercial liability insurance policies. The court found the gun makers' insurance policies excluded property damage and injuries occurring away from the [...]

A Moscow court Thursday rejected the appeal of jailed Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky against his conviction on fraud and tax evasion charges, but reduced his nine-year sentence to eight years. The decision, which followed several postponements of the proceedings , came after just one day of arguments from the prosecution and defense. Khodorkovsky's lawyers [...]

Scotland Yard said Thursday that bombing suspect Hamdi Issac , also known as Hussain Osman, has been charged with attempted murder over the failed 21 July London bomb attacks . Issac was apprehended in Rome days after the failed attacks on the London subway and his case is seen by many as a test case [...]