Wire services are reporting that after intensive negotiations lasting several days US senators late Wednesday agreed to extend the Patriot Act for six months. The White House and the Senate Republican leadership had previously sought a reauthorization of the Act that would have made many provisions permanent, but that initiative was blocked last Friday. On [...]

Courts in Uzbekistan Wednesday convicted an additional 42 people and handed down prison sentences of 12-20 years in connection with the May 2005 Andijan uprising . It was reported that the defendants were convicted on charges including participation in terrorist acts and deliberate, aggravated murder, though there has not been an official court confirmation. In [...]

Jose Padilla v. C.T. Hanft, United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, December 21, 2005 . Excerpt from the court's opinion by Judge Michael Luttig: Because we believe that the transfer of Padilla and the withdrawal of our opinion at the government's request while the Supreme Court is reviewing this court's decision of [...]

AP is reporting that the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has denied the Bush administration's request to transfer Jose Padilla from military to civilian law enforcement custody. Padilla, a US citizen, was detained over three years ago for allegedly planning to detonate a radioactive "dirty bomb" in the US, but was indicted [...]

The International Federation for Human Rights and the League of Human Rights have filed a lawsuit in French court seeking more information about whether the US Central Intelligence Agency operated prisoner rendition flights that landed in France. The European rights groups are reacting to reports that CIA flights have landed at two French airports since [...]

An attorney for John Walker Lindh , the American caught fighting for the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001, said Tuesday that Lindh has again asked President Bush to commute his 20-year prison sentence . Lindh was sentenced in 2002 after reaching a plea agreement with federal prosecutors. Under the agreement, Lindh pleaded guilty to supplying [...]

AP is reporting that the US Senate has rejected a proposal to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil drilling. The proposal was included as part of the 2006 military spending bill . 12:55 PM ET – Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid argued on the Senate floor Wednesday that the version of the [...]

Congo's Information Minister Henri Mova-Sakanyi said Tuesday that the country is reassessing the damages it will request from Uganda following an International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling that Uganda violated the Congo's sovereignty during a 1998-2003 war and was responsible for human rights abuses and the plundering of Congolese natural resources. The ICJ ordered Uganda [...]

AP is reporting that Saddam Hussein has claimed in trial proceedings Wednesday in Baghdad that he has been beaten "everywhere on my body" while in detention. Hussein's allegations came during an extended outburst during proceedings Wednesday at the Iraqi Special Tribunal and the chief prosecutor said that if Hussein had been beaten by the US-led [...]

A day after the first democratically elected parliament in 30 years in Afghanistan held its inaugural session , proceedings in the national assembly nearly broke down Tuesday after a delegate called for all of the country's human rights abusers and "criminal warlords" be brought to justice. Malali Joya's comments came during parliament's first working session [...]