The US House of Representatives on Wednesday unanimously approved H.R. 3768 , providing $6 billion in temporary tax relief aimed at helping people and organizations hit by Hurricane Katrina . In particular, the legislation offers $500 tax credits for those providing temporary housing for Katrina victims and raises caps on charitable donations made to charities [...]

US Senate Judiciary Chairman Sen. Arlen Specter said Wednesday that the US Defense Department was blocking an investigation by the Senate Judiciary Committee into a highly-classified Army intelligence program that allegedly identified four of the September 11 hijackers a year prior to the attacks. The Pentagon Tuesday ordered officers and analysts involved with "Able Danger" [...]

Hamdi Issac, one of four suspects in a spate of failed bomb attacks in London on July 21, will be extradited Thursday to the UK, Italian sources reported Wednesday. The Italian high court had previously upheld a ruling that Issac had to be extradited to British authorities within 35 days under a new EU arrest [...]

Court-martial proceedings against Pfc. Lynndie England , 22, one of the highest-profile but lowest-ranking suspects in the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal, began Wednesday in Fort Hood, Texas, with jury selection and opening statements. England faces seven counts of abuse and conspiracy in connection with actions depicted in widely published photos . Unlike other defendants [...]

Eight Democratic governors have called on President Bush and Congress to investigate reports of gas price gouging following Hurricane Katrina . Citing a study by a University of Wisconsin economist that concluded rising gas prices were not solely attributable to Katrina, the governors said in a letter dated Tuesday that an investigation was needed into [...]

A group of European legislators have accused Italy of violating international human rights laws in its treatment of refugees after visiting a camp for asylum seekers on the island of Lampedusa . The 12 socialist MEPs said conditions at the camp, located off the coast of Sicily, did not meet the standards set down in [...]

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told reporters in Brussels Wednesday that he does not expect a European constitution for another two to three years. While referendum failures in France and the Netherlands led to a June EU "crisis summit" and a "period of reflection", Barroso said "There hasn't been much reflection so far." He [...]

AP is reporting that a federal judge has approved settlements worth over $6 billion in civil litigation related to the WorldCom accounting fraud . 1:49 PM ET – Under the deals approved by District Judge Denise Cote, several corporate defendants involved in the fraud, including Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase, and former WorldCom directors will be [...]

Harvard Law School will open its career services office to military recruiters beginning this fall, despite the Pentagon's refusal to sign the school's nondiscrimination pledge, Dean Elena Kagan said Tuesday in a letter to the law school community. According to Kagan, the Pentagon notified the University it would withhold federal grants, from which Harvard receives [...]

The US House Resources Committee is considering Wednesday possible changes to the Endangered Species Act , which has been in effect for 32 years. Rep. Richard Pombo has introduced the bipartisan Threatened and Endangered Species Recovery Act of 2005 (TESRA) , and the House committee is expected to vote on the bill Thursday. The act [...]