The government of Saudi Arabia on Thursday denied accusations that Saudi officials tortured Ahmed Omar Abu Ali while he was detained by the Saudi government in 2003. Abu Ali, an American citizen arrested in Saudi Arabia, testified in US federal district court on Wednesday that Saudi officials denied his requests to contact the US embassy [...]

In a 7-4 decision issued on Thursday, a full panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld the Seattle school district's use of race in its high school admissions policy. The policy allows high school students to choose their preferred school. If there is insufficient space at one of the schools, [...]

Ecuador's high court on Thursday rejected an attempt by President Alfredo Palacio to seek a referendum on his political reforms. Palacio, a political independent in office for only seven months, has no support in the Ecuador Congress and has faced substantial opposition to his efforts to rewrite the country's constitution. Palacio assumed the presidency after [...]

A German appeals court on Thursday heard an appeal brought by federal prosecutors challenging last year's acquittal of Deutsche Bank CEO Joseph Ackermann . The appeal comes from a July 2004 court ruling that cleared Ackermann and five other former Mannesmann executives of corruption charges. At oral argument, a federal prosecutor told the court that [...]

Sky News is reporting that Saadoun Janabi, a member of the legal defense team for Saddam Hussein , has been kidnapped in Baghdad. 4:07 PM ET – Reuters is now reporting the kidnapping victim, also identified by police as Saadoun Dulaimi, is actually a defense lawyer for former Iraqi judge Awad al-Bander, who is one [...]

The US Department of Justice is adopting a zero tolerance policy for anyone attempting to fraudulently acquire aid money appropriated to the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast, US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Thursday. Speaking to about 100 investigators from the Hurricane Katrina Fraud Task Force, Gonzales promised that every dollar directed to hurricane relief would be [...]

Motorola has filed a lawsuit against the incoming CEO of Nortel Networks , claiming the Canadian telecommunication equipment company's move to hire its former chief operating officer will inevitably result in the use and disclosure of Motorola's trade secrets. Nortel hired Mike Zafirovski as its president and CEO, effective November 15, after he resigned from [...]

AP is reporting that Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX) has turned himself in for booking on criminal conspiracy and money laundering charges. A warrant was issued for DeLay's arrest Wednesday, and DeLay arrived at Houston's Harris County Sheriff's Office Thursday, where he was photographed, fingerprinted and released on a $10,000 bond. DeLay is scheduled to appear [...]

The European Commission has outlined its plan to combat human trafficking during a two-day conference, Tackling Human Trafficking , stressing the importance of cooperation between member states in the effort to stem the flow of adults and children smuggled into countries to work for low wages or as prostitutes. EU Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini pressed [...]

Top UN investigator Detlev Mehlis on Thursday turned a report over to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri . Annan is expected to send a copy of the report to the UN Security Council and to Lebanese leaders on Friday. The UN launched the investigation in May [...]