A North Caucasus District military court has found a group of a special forces soldiers in the Russian military not guilty in the 2002 murder of six Chechen civilians . The troops admitted to killing the civilians but said they were just following orders. When they fired upon a van that missed a checkpoint they [...]

According to a court filing by his attorneys, Ahmed Omar Abu Ali , a Virginia man accused of conspiring to assassinate President Bush and supporting al-Qaida , was tortured while in Saudi custody. Defense attorneys cited the conclusions of two doctors who examined Abu Ali and found that two years of physical and psychological abuse [...]

Leaders of both parties brought race into the equation Thursday in the continuing Senate floor fight over President Bush's judicial nominees and the Senate's own filibuster rules. GOP Majority Leader Bill Frist held a news conference accompanied by the chairman of a group of black pastors, Bishop Harry Jackson, who admonished the Democratic party for [...]

A federal judge issued a second 10-day restraining order Thursday blocking US congressional efforts to obtain documents that former investigator Robert Parton took with him when he resigned his role in the probe of the UN Oil-for-Food Program . A United Nations-appointed committee independently investigating the program agreed to the delay after discussing the matter [...]

Nine individuals have been served search warrants as part of the federal investigation into the theft of over 300,000 personal records taken during a digital break-in of LexisNexis Inc. disclosed earlier this year. Personal computers and discs were removed from several locations including the homes of individuals involved in the breach. A law enforcement source [...]

Rwandan Defense Minister General Marcel Gatsinzi apologized Thursday before a Gacaca court for taking part in the country's 1994 genocide . Minister Gatsinzi is the first high-ranking official to request a pardon for his role in the genocidal regime amidst accusations by survivors claiming he provided arms to support the militias. Rwandan President Paul Kagame [...]

Leading Thursday's international brief, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has refused to sign a controversial bill that would have severely limited the rights of NGOs to act in Zimbabwe , according to newspaper reports. The Non-Governmental Organisations Bill was passed by the Zimbabwean Parliament last year and was simply awaiting the signature of the president to [...]

The leaders of French, Germany, and Poland banded together Thursday in defense of the EU Constitution just ten days before the French vote on the document. French President Jacques Chirac, German Chancellor Gerard Schroeder, and Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski have joined forces after a meeting in eastern France, where concern over the French passage of [...]

Three hedge-fund managers must pay $2.4M to settle charges that the companies used illegal stock trading tactics to profit off 22 other companies. Galleon Management LP, Oaktree Capital Management LLC and DB Investment Managers Inc. were alleged by the US Securities and Exchange Commission to have violated Rule 105 , an anti-manipulation rule that the [...]

Real IRA member Sean Gerard Hoey faces 61 new charges connected to the 1998 Omagh bombing which killed 29 people and injured over 300. Hoey was already faced murder charges for his involvement in the bombing, the worst single atrocity in all of Northern Ireland's "troubles". The crime had remained largely unsolved due to the [...]