Saudi Arabia King Abdullah has urged President Bush to release Saddam Hussein's half-brother from detention because of failing health, Saudi Arabia daily Al-Riyadh reported Wednesday. King Abdullah reportedly sent a letter to Bush asking him to release Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti , one of seven former officials currently standing trial with Hussein for the killing of [...]

The interim government in Haiti has sued former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in US federal court for his alleged embezzlement of millions of dollars from the country's treasury and a state-owned telephone company. The suit, filed by several US law firms on behalf of Haiti's government, accuses the former leader and eight others of transferring stolen [...]

The US has circulated a draft UN Security Council resolution that would extend the UN mandate of the 180,000-strong multinational force currently in Iraq for another year. The US-led force was originally authorized in May 2004 under UN Security Council Resolution 1546 . The latest draft, which the US proposed on Wednesday, is expected to [...]

An advisory group created by the Scottish Consumer Council has called for reforms to the country's civil law system that would make the system less costly and more efficient. Scotland's civil law system deals with family, property and other similar issues, but the advisory group has argued that high costs make it impractical for low [...]

The US Supreme Court on Wednesday heard oral arguments in Lockhart v. US , a case in which it will decide whether the US government can use part of a person's Social Security benefits to pay overdue student loans. Justices appeared unsympathetic to the claims of James Lockhart, who argued that he needed all of [...]

Only days after President Bush nominated Judge Samuel Alito to a seat on the US Supreme Court , the group of 14 senators who helped diffuse a Senate showdown over judicial nominees showed signs of splitting. Known as the "Gang of 14," the influential group of seven Republicans and seven Democrats offered diverging opinions on [...]

The Central Intelligence Agency has held and interrogated some of its most important al Qaeda suspects at a Soviet-era compound in Eastern Europe, the Washington Post reported Wednesday. According to current and former intelligence officials and diplomats from three continents, the secret facility is part of a larger covert prison system that has set up [...]

Syria on Wednesday released 190 political prisoners, a move observers said was likely aimed at avoiding further confrontation with the US and UN. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad ordered the pardons, which included some members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood group and more than 50 Kurds imprisoned following riots in 2004. State news agency SANA said [...]

Israeli and Palestinian human rights groups Wednesday filed a joint petition demanding that the Israeli Air Force stop causing sonic booms over Gaza, calling supersonic flights over the area “collective punishment against the civilian population” in a statement . Physicians for Human Rights-Israel and the Gaza Community Mental Health Program petitioned the Supreme Court of [...]

The trial of 13 alleged members of the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group charged with conspiracy in the 2004 Madrid train bombings is set to begin Thursday in Brussels. The suspects, most of whom were arrested last year in Belgium, are accused of providing financial and other support to the Madrid bombers, as well as being [...]