Pakistani security officials have detained more than 2,000 supporters of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ahead of Sharif's return from exile, Sharif spokesperson Ahsan Iqbal said Sunday. Sharif, who has been living in exile after being deposed in a 1999 military coup led by current Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf , is expected to return to [...]

Bolivian Constitutional Assembly president Silvia Lazarte announced a month-long suspension of constitutional reform talks Friday, citing security concerns after days of violent protests by university students and other opposition members who have demanded the relocation of the Bolivian capital from the city of La Paz to the historical capital of Sucre. Leftist President Evo Morales [...]

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) relied on telecommunication companies to engage in national security surveillance much broader in scope than previously acknowledged, the New York Times reported Sunday. According to documents provided by privacy rights group the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) , the FBI used national security letters (NSL) to obtain detailed "community [...]

US District Judge William Hoeveler Friday rejected arguments by lawyers for former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega that his extradition to France would violate his prisoner of war status, lifing a stay of extradition he imposed Wednesday. Noriega is slated for release from US federal prison Sunday. US government lawyers had told Hoeveler they were satisfied [...]

Ali Khan : In his latest 9/11 (2007) video message, Osama bin Laden has supposedly said: "O' Americans, Muslims will continue to kill you unless you embrace Islam." Even if this message is authentic, which I doubt, Islam allows no such notion of jihad. This is the worst possible way to invite non-Muslims to Islam, [...]

The US House of Representatives Friday approved the Patent Reform Act of 2007 , the first overhaul of current US patent laws in more than 50 years. The bill passed 220-175 , with most Democrats supporting its passage, and most Republican opposed. US Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and other leading members of the Senate Judiciary [...]

Former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling appealed his conviction Friday, claiming errors by prosecutors and the trial judge. In papers filed with the US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals , Skilling's attorneys claim the US government's case against Skilling was based on a flawed legal theory, prosecutorial misconduct, and that the jury instructions failed to address [...]

Mohammed al-Qahtani, the so-called "20th hijacker" from the Sept. 11 attacks, has disclaimed his confession about his participation in the terrorist attacks, alleging that his statements were coerced by US torture. In documents obtained by the Associated Press Friday through the Freedom of Information Act , Qahtani denied involvement in and knowledge of the Sept. [...]

A Louisiana state court jury Friday found nursing home owners Salvador and Mabel Mangano not guilty of the drowning deaths of residents at St. Rita's Nursing Home in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina . Lawyers representing the Manganos, who pleaded not guilty to 35 charges of negligent homicide and 64 charges of cruelty last October, [...]

The Catholic Diocese of San Diego Friday announced an agreement to pay $198.1 million to settle 144 claims of sexual abuse by its clergy. In February, 42 clergy sex abuse cases were suspended – the night before they were scheduled to begin – after the diocese sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection . US Bankruptcy Judge [...]