The US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence was unable to come to a final agreement Thursday regarding an FBI proposal for increased power to seize records and mailings in terror investigations under the USA Patriot Act . In a nearly three-hour closed session the members of the committee debated the merits of the proposal and [...]

President Bush's languishing air pollution initiative received a boost on Thursday when the Environmental Protection Agency agreed to a request made months ago by the Senate to examine competing legislation. The President's plan, known as Clear Skies , failed in a Senate Committee vote in March 2005 when Democratic Senator Thomas R. Carper voted against [...]

The proposed European Union Constitution received overwhelming legislative approval in Germany Friday. With all but one of Germany's 16 states in support of the constitution, the final "yes" vote in the Bundesrat , the German upper house, was 66 of a possible 69. The state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania abstained from the vote as a result [...]

Following up an an report yesterday in JURIST's Paper Chase, US military investigators have now identified five incidents in which the Koran was mishandled by US personnel at Guantanamo Bay but have not found any hard evidence that the holy book had been flushed down a toilet. According to a statement from prison commander Brig. [...]

Army staff sergeant Shane Werst was acquitted of murder Thursday for shooting unarmed Iraqi Naser Ismail after a trial that began Monday . Werst said he fired his weapon at the suspected insurgent during house raids in Iraq to save a fellow soldier when Ismail lunged for the soldier's weapon. After shooting him, Werst fired [...]

Four state lawmakers were indicted in Tennessee on Thursday for allegedly taking bribes from FBI agents posing as representatives of a fake electronics-recycling company. The agents gave payments to the lawmakers inducing them to sponsor a bill which would enable the company to buy and sell used electronic equipment from Tennessee. The bill was withdrawn [...]

The US Senate was forced to delay the vote on UN ambassador nominee John Bolton Thursday after Democrats demanded more information from the White House before agreeing to end their debate which began Wednesday and vote on the nomination. Democrats say that the Senate has not been given classified information on Bolton's current position as [...]

In what Interior Minister Habib al-Adli claimed was the largest turnout ever in a registered referendum, 83% of Egyptian voters have backed a change in election law that allows multi-candidate presidential elections. The high turnout was marred however by attacks from Egyptian police and demonstrators against anti-referendum activists, attacks which President Bush Thursday condemned as [...]

The US Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday approved a $140 billion asbestos compensation fund in a 13-5 vote. The controversial fund is to be paid for by companies facing asbestos litigation and their insurers in an effort to end asbestos injury lawsuits and victims will now appeal to the fund rather than sue in court. The [...]

The verdict reading for oil magnate Mikhail Khodorkovsky continued into its ninth day Thursday. Khodorkovsky, former CEO of Russian oil firm Yukos , and his partner Platon Lebedev have been indicted for fraud and embezzlement . Issues addressed by the court on Thursday concerned the corporate tax evasion charges against both men. Defense lawyers believes [...]