The United States and the European Union Thursday signed an agreement on the regulation of trans-Atlantic airline passenger data-sharing , allowing the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to continue using passenger data when the existing interim agreement expires at the end of July. Under the terms of the new agreement, air carriers will transmit [...]

A Nigerian court sentenced former state governor Dieprieye Alamieyeseigha Thursday to a total of 12 years in prison after Alamieyeseigha pleaded guilty to six counts of corruption and money laundering. Alamieyeseigha, who governed the oil-rich Bayelsa state from 1999 to 2005, has spent almost two years in custody. He will be eligible for release soon [...]

US President George W. Bush signed the Foreign Investment and National Security Act of 2007 Thursday, expanding the investigative scope of the Treasury Department's Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to include foreign investments in vital infrastructure and energy and adding an additional 45-day review of proposed acquisitions from foreign state-owned entities. [...]

Australian Director of Public Prosecutions Damian Bugg ordered the dismissal of a terror charge against Dr. Mohammad Haneef Friday. Bugg said that after personally reviewing all materials in the case, there was insufficient evidence to establish that Haneef had recklessly provided material support to terrorists by leaving a subscriber identity module (SIM) with his second [...]

Former South Africa President F.W. de Klerk on Thursday denied having knowledge of or participating in crimes against opposition members while he was in office during the apartheid era, adding that South Africa should "look at the future" and refrain from engaging "persecution and retribution." De Clerk, who has refused to apply for amnesty with [...]

FBI Director Robert Mueller on Thursday contradicted testimony given by US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales earlier this week concerning a 2004 discussion of intelligence activities. Mueller testified before the House Judiciary Committee Thursday that there was dissent within the administration concerning the National Security Agency's domestic surveillance program expressed during the meeting, but Gonzales said [...]

The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will not reinstate the Fairness Doctrine, according to a letter released Thursday to Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) by FCC Chairman Kevin Martin. The Fairness Doctrine , under which broadcast licenses could be revoked if the broadcaster failed to give airtime to opposing sides of controversial issues, was struck down [...]

City and town clerks in Massachusetts may issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples from New Mexico, according to recent instructions from the Massachusetts Registry of Vital Records . A July 18 internal notice to municipal employees said that because the New Mexico government has not explicitly banned same-sex marriage , Massachusetts may issue marriage licenses [...]

A Zimbabwean judge has released 13 opposition activists held by the government because police faked evidence against them, defense lawyers said Thursday. All 13 belong to the opposition party Movement for Democratic Change , and had been held since March when the government arrested at least 100 people – including opposition presidential hopeful Morgan Tsvangirai [...]

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled Thursday that Russian authorities were responsible for the shooting death of 11 unarmed civilians in Chechnya and ordered Russia to pay damages and court expenses totaling 163,864 euro (approximately $224,500) to five Chechen plaintiffs. The court ruled that Russia was responsible for the February 2000 incidents, in [...]