A small minority of southern Republicans have announced their intention to challenge the renewal of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act , currently being evaluated by Congress for a 25-year renewal on the grounds that it is unfair to southern states and no longer necessary. Though the White House, Congressional leaders of both parties, [...]

Lobbyist Michael Scanlon is scheduled for a federal court appearance Monday on a single count alleged in a criminal information released by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) Friday. The information alleges that Scanlon provided "things of value" to a member of Congress, later identified as Representative Bob Ney (R-OH) by his lawyer, in exchange [...]

US Senator Brian Dorgan (D-ND) released a letter Friday confirming that allegations raised by an ex-Defense Department contractor regarding no-bid contracts awarded to a Halliburton subsidiary for work in Iraq have been turned over to the US Department of Justice (DOJ) for possible investigation. The letter, from Defense Department Assistant Inspector General John R. Crane, [...]

US Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA) Friday voiced objections to a legislative deal that extend the USA Patriot Act , siding with a bipartisan group of senators threatening to filibuster the bill unless it is rewritten to provide increased privacy protections. The White House had previously pushed Congress to vote on the extension before [...]

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit announced Friday that it will return to its New Orleans headquarters in January. Following Hurricane Katrina in September, the appeals court temporarily moved to Houston, Texas and has operated from the Bob Casey United States Courthouse. The court will shut down Houston operations around December [...]

US DOJ Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald indicated in court documents Friday that his investigation into the CIA leak case will return to a grand jury. Three weeks ago, a previous grand jury indicted former Vice President Dick Cheney chief of staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice . In [...]

The US Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) indicated Friday that all 125 workers arrested at a Wal-Mart distribution center construction site in Pennsylvania Thursday will be deported. Some of the workers, mostly from Mexico and Central America, used false documents to get jobs with a Wal-Mart subcontractor. Federal officials said the arrests should [...]

The Pentagon released a report Friday indicating that over 80,000 people have been detained in numerous facilities world-wide since the World Trade Center attacks in 2001. The report comes amid increased criticism by human rights groups and European organizations of the US government's treatment of detainees, and on the heels of reports that the CIA [...]

Tunis Commitment, final declaration of the World Summit on the Information Society, November 18, 2005 . Read the full text of the declaration.

A US federal court jury Friday found against a former Salvadoran Army colonel , holding him responsible for murder and torture carried out during the El Salvador civil war in the 1980s. The jury heard a lawsuit filed by five Salvadoran citizens who alleged they were tortured or had family members killed by soldiers who [...]