Ousted Ecuador president Lucio Gutierrez said Friday that his removal from office Wednesday by the Ecuadorian Congress violated the country's constitution and that, contrary to its contention, he never abandoned his post. Gutierrez’s remarks come 3 days after the Congress voted 62-0 to remove him from office under the allegation that he had abandoned his [...]

US Department of Health and Human Services head Mike Leavitt announced Friday that the agency will actively enforce the little-used Born-Alive Infant Protection Act . President Bush signed the bill into law in 2002 requiring health care providers to provide adequate care to fetuses born alive during the course of an abortion. To the general [...]

In an effort to implement a peace deal between Khartoum and southern rebels that formally ended a 21-year civil war, Sudan has formed a committee to draft an interim constitution. The constitution would clear the way for a unified Sudanese government and mark the beginning of the six-year interim period called for in the accord [...]

US government officials disclosed Friday that a German citizen originally detained as a terror suspect was released in May of 2004, on direct orders from then-national security advisor Condoleezza Rice after he had spent five months in an Afghan prison due to an error. The officials said that when Khaled el-Masri was removed from a [...]

Following the recommendation of a 10-member investigative team whose findings clearing four other top officers were preliminarily disclosed Friday , the US Army has relieved Brigadier General Jani Karpinski of her command for dereliction of duty in the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal. She was previously suspended . The recommendation came after the panel found [...]

District of Columbia v. Beretta, U.S.A., Corp., et al.; Lawson, et al. v. Beretta, U.S.A., Corp., et al., District of Columbia Court of Appeals, Associate Judge Farrell, April 21, 2005 . Excerpt: We reverse the dismissal of the statutory count as to the individual plaintiffs, holding that they may advance to discovery on strict liability [...]

A new Army investigative report has cleared four top US military officers – including former Iraq commander Lt. General Ricardo Sanchez – of wrongdoing in the Iraq prison abuse scandal, according to officials speaking Friday. The as-yet-unreleased report conducted by US Army Inspector General Lt. Gen. Stanley E. Green found that allegations made against the [...]

Zacarias Moussaoui has pleaded guilty to six conspiracy charges connected with the 9/11 attacks that killed more than 3000 people. Upon conviction, he could face the death penalty. Earlier today, Moussaoui's own lawyers had asked the judge to reject a guilty plea, citing mental incompetence. 6:15 PM ET – US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales confirmed [...]

Vice President Dick Cheney said Friday that, if necessary, he would cast the tie-breaking vote to ban Senate filibusters of judicial nominees. Speaking to the Republican National Lawyers Association , Cheney declared that "the decision about how to proceed will be made by the Republican leadership in the Senate. But if the Senate majority decides [...]

Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue Friday signed into law a bill that would require voters to show photo identification before being allowed to cast ballots. Supporters of the measure say that it will crack down on voter fraud, but opponents say that the law unfairly targets the elderly, the poor and minorities, groups most likely not [...]