At least five people were shot by police Saturday as violence again erupted in Kenya's Western Province over the country's highly controversial draft constitution . Security forces fired upon a crowd in the city of Kisumu while dispersing a riot during a pro-constitution rally held by four cabinet ministers. Police said mobs set fire to [...]

Syrian President Bashar Assad on Saturday formed a special judicial committee to conduct a state investigation into Syrian involvement in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri . The committee will be led by Syria's prosecutor-general, and will also include the military prosecutor and a judge yet to be named by the justice [...]

Australian state and territorial leaders were given a new draft of a proposed federal anti-terrorism bill Friday and are meeting this weekend to discuss it. The previous draft drew heavy criticism from ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope last week for its provisions concerning control orders and preventative detentions; Stanhope cautiously supported the new draft Saturday, [...]

The New Orleans Police Department fired 45 police officers and 6 other employees Friday after investigators concluded they had improperly abandoned their duties during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina without giving 14 days notice as required by regulations. A total of of 240 officers out of the 1450-member force are under investigation after being listed [...]

Former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy pleaded not guilty Friday to corruption charges after a federal grand jury indicted him Wednesday. Scrushy claims that though he has no evidence to provide the court, federal prosecutors are offering him immunity if he agrees to testify against his co-defendant, former Alabama governor Don Siegelman , who has also [...]

Democrats on the US Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Investigations claimed in a minority staff report on the UN Oil-for-Food scandal released Friday that the US Treasury Department failed to respond to UN requests for help in investigating business improprieties and missed an opportunity to stop at least one US corporation from [...]

A lawyer for former Cheney chief of staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby , who resigned Friday after a grand jury indictment , has outlined a possible defense for his client's alleged false statements before a grand jury. Joseph Tate suggested that Libby's inconsistent "recollections" to the grand jury and FBI investigators were the result of [...]

In a statement released Friday, the US State Department announced that it has extended an invitation to Guantanamo Bay prison to three UN human rights rapporteurs. State Department officials say "the invitation was extended in an effort to broaden understanding of US detention operations" and counter reports that detainees at the prison camp are treated [...]

Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein accepted a last minute offer of exile from Arab leaders in 2003 just before the US-led invasion of Iraq, according to an Al Arabiya television documentary. According to the report, the deal could have averted war, but was thwarted when members of the League of Arab States refused to assent [...]

Portugal's constitutional court has blocked a national referendum designed to relax the country's abortion laws. Prime Minister Jose Socrates and the ruling Socialist party had intended to hold the referendum on November 27 to decide whether abortions during the first ten weeks of pregnancy should become legal. Currently, Portugal has one of Europe's strictest laws [...]