The Irish Republican Army announced Thursday that it would end its "armed campaign" and instead make its fight for Northern Ireland a purely political one. The move was characterized by British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern as "a momentous and historic development" . The IRA has observed a cease-fire since 1997, [...]

Despite UN opposition , Zimbabwe continued its controversial demolition program on Wednesday, bulldozing a squatter township as riot police kept residents and observers out of the ruins. Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe says the UN report condemning "Operation Drive Out Trash" (sometimes translated as "Operation Restore Order"), which has left nearly 700,000 homeless, was biased against [...]

FBI Director Robert Mueller went before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday to argue that Congress should provide the FBI with the power to issue its own subpoenas, without court approval, so that it can expedite information collection in terrorism investigations. Mueller gave a recent example involving North Carolina State University where FBI agents lacking [...]

Military lawyers cautioned US forces against using extreme interrogation tactics in early 2003, according to documents released in response to a request by Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) . The memorandums warned that using such methods might result in mistreatment of American POWs and criminal prosecution, international and domestic, for the interrogators. A Bush administration task [...]

The Metropolitan Police in London arrested nine more people Thursday in connection with the botched July 21 London bombings . The arrests follow three late Wednesday and four earlier in the day , bringing the total number of people in custody to 20, including one of the suspected bombers . AP has more.

In a transcript obtained by the Denver Post, a Utah National Guardsmen testifying at a preliminary hearing for three US soldiers accused of murder said he witnessed "classified personnel", possibly CIA agents, strike Iraqi prisoners with a wooden handle and mock them by mentioning the death of the general the three soldiers are accused of [...]

Speaking in Washington Wednesday, senior US Marine Lieutenant General John Sattler followed up urgings from US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld for timely completion of the draft of the new Iraqi constitution by saying it would be "one more nail in the coffin" of insurgents. The looming August 15 deadline has had anxious officials in [...]

The US House of Representatives passed the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) early Thursday by a narrow two-vote margin, 217-215 after a strong push by President Bush. Senate approval of CAFTA last month 54-45 and Bush's insistence that the trade agreement with six Latin American nations would go a long way to help American [...]

The Israeli Knesset voted 54-15 on Wednesday to limit liability for lawsuits brought against the government by Palestinians claiming compensation for damages caused by the Israel Defense Forces. The so-called "Intifada Law" allows only two instances where a suit may be brought: if an IDF soldier was convicted of a traffic offense, or if a [...]

Voters' Right to Protect Marriage Initiative, submitted to the California Attorney General's office for title and summary on May 19, 2005, released by the California Attorney General to the public on July 25, 2005. Excerpt: The People of California have a compelling responsibility to protect the essence of marriage by ensuring that the civil institution [...]