The current Mideast conflict has halted the UN International Independent Investigation Commission probe into the February 2005 assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri , Beirut's Daily Star newspaper reports Friday. A source told the paper that Belgian Serge Brammertz , deputy prosecutor of the International Criminal Court and current head of the Hariri investigation [...]

The US Court of Appeal for the DC Circuit will allow the Bush administration to file briefs in yet another round of legal arguments challenging hundreds of lawsuits filed by detainees held at Guantanamo Bay . A court panel has outlined a schedule for US government lawyers and counsel for the prisoners to voice their [...]

A judge in Arkansas Thursday approved a $90 million settlement by Google to resolve a class action lawsuit filed by advertisers alleging that Google and other online search engine companies overcharged for pay-per-click advertising, in which advertisers pay a fee every time an internet user clicks on their ads. Google agreed to give advertising credits [...]

Republican leaders in the US House of Representatives are planning to hold an additional 19 hearings on immigration in 12 states across the country to garner support for strict border controls they say will help stop illegal immigration. House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) and Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) are both sponsors of the hearings [...]

Senior managers in the Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians (OST) allegedly violated ethics rules by maintaining an improper relationship with an accounting firm that won more than $6.5 million in contract work related to Indian trust funds held by the government, according to a US Department of the Interior (DOI) investigation . [...]

US officials Thursday denied that the US had violated British air transport safety regulations in routing "smart bombs" to Israel through the UK, despite concerns expressed by UK Foreign Minister Margaret Beckett earlier this week that procedures for handling the dangerous cargo were not followed. Beckett said Wednesday that a formal complaint would be made [...]

Former President of Malawi Bakili Muluzi was released Thursday following a brief arrest, during which he was charged with 42 counts of corruption, fraud and theft, according to Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) Director Gustave Kaliwo. Kaliwo said the charges arose from allegations that Muluzi directed campaign contributions into his personal accounts. Muluzi proclaimed his innocence through [...]

Turkish author and journalist Perihan Magden was acquitted Thursday for defending an objector who was sentenced to four years in prison for refusing to wear his military uniform. The law in Turkey requires any man over 20 years old to serve in the military for 15 months and does not allow conscientious objections. Magden was [...]

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Thursday ruled in favor of the mother of a Chechen man who claimed that Russia failed to investigate the death of her son as required by Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights . Fatima Bazorkina brought a civil suit against the Russian government after [...]

At a US Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing Thursday, Democrats renewed their fight against the nomination of John Bolton as the permanent US ambassador to the United Nations . To avoid initial opposition in the Senate , President Bush gave Bolton the job on an interim basis last year through a recess appointment that [...]