UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan called on the world's governments Wednesday to ensure the goal of nuclear non-proliferation by devaluing nuclear weapons and strengthening the treaties to limit and control them. Addressing the opening session of the United Nations Conference on Disarmament (CD) in Geneva, Annan advocated renewed international efforts to secure compliance with the Nuclear [...]

A guard at a federal detention center in Tallahassee, Florida, shot and killed a US Justice Department agent before being shot and killed himself Wednesday as FBI and Justice Department investigators arrived at the prison to arrest six men, including the guard, who were indicted Tuesday on corruption charges. The six allegedly brought contraband into [...]

The United States and Japan have finalized a treaty that will allow law enforcement authorities from both countries to deal with each other directly to facilitate criminal investigations, rather than going through diplomats. The Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) , which the two countries initially signed on August 5, 2003, will take effect July 21 [...]

House GOP leaders on Wednesday indefinitely postponed consideration of the Voting Rights Act Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006 , which would renew provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 for an additional 25-year period. The unexpected decision to remove the bill from floor debate came after Republicans from southern states complained during a [...]

Speaking Wednesday at a news conference after a US-EU summit meeting in Vienna , President George W. Bush suggested that the White House is open to having Guantanamo Bay detainees tried in US courts, as opposed to Guantanamo-based military commissions where a few are currently facing trial. After reaffirming his commitment to "ending Guantanamo" and [...]

Iran has charged leading women's rights activists Noushin Ahmadi Khorasani and Parvin Ardalan with acting "against national security" in connection with a June 12 women's rights demonstration that turned violent when police detained more than 70 people in central Tehran. Both women have reportedly been freed on bail. Many protesters alleged that the police beat [...]

Law enforcement officials often obtain Americans' phone records without a warrant or subpoena by paying private data brokers, who sometimes get the information through improper or even illegal techniques, AP reports. Federal agencies that hire data brokers include the FBI and the US Marshals Service , both part of the Justice Department, and US Immigration [...]

The Catholic church is pushing the UK government to establish a committee to consider lowering the legal limit on abortions from the current 24 weeks allowed by the 1967 Abortion Act , UK Archbishop Rev. Peter Smith said Wednesday during an interview on the BBC Breakfast program. The proposed committee would involve members of both [...]

I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby supporters have raised more than $2 million for his legal defense in the CIA leak case since last fall, according to Barbara Comstock, a member of Libby's defense team. Supporters of Vice President Cheney's former aide have hosted several fundraisers, including one Tuesday evening, hosted by former Cheney spokeswoman Mary Matalin [...]

Canada must do more to protect citizens' personal information from foreign governments, the national privacy commissioner said in a report to Parliament presented Tuesday. Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart singled out the Canadian Border Services Agency for allowing guards and customs agents to give their US counterparts private information over the phone, even though agreements between the [...]