Leading Wednesday's states brief, North Carolina lawmakers and law enforcement officers today urged the state's General Assembly to pass legislation unveiled seven months ago to combat gang member violence in the state. The bill would create additional felonies and stiffer penalties for gang members, and seek $20 million for gang prevention initiatives and $150,000 for [...]

With new anti-terrorism measures being introduced across Europe in the wake of the London bombings, Sweden's Justice Minister Thomas Bodstrom has said he plans to introduce a bill that would strengthen the military's role in the event of an attack, and give authorities the preventative power to listen in on conversations. His comments were reported [...]

The UK Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority says families and victims of the London bombings will be eligible for the basic benefit of £11,000 ($19,543 USD)with a maximum payout total of £500,000 ($888,542 USD). Howard Webber of the CICA said the payouts should be considered "a token of public sympathy," but other groups have complained that [...]

Iraq legislators accused Kuwait of stealing Iraqi oil during a televised debate on Tuesday, the 15th anniversary of the Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait. The debate , which did not have any Kuwaiti representatives, also touched on minor border disputes which arose between the two states after the 1991 Gulf War and 1993 boundary drawing [...]

A third US military prosecutor asked for a transfer from the Guantanamo military tribunals in March 2004 after voicing complaints about their fairness, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. ABC previously reported on emails in which two other military prosecutors called the tribunals "rigged" and "a fraud" . Both those officers also requested transfers and [...]

London police Wednesday charged 23-year-old Ismael Abdurahman with withholding information about the failed July 21 bombing attacks on London's bus and subway systems. The charge alleges that Abdurahman "had information he knew or believed may be of material assistance in securing the apprehension, prosecution or conviction of another person in the UK for an offense [...]

The sponsors of a proposed amendment to the California constitution that would ban gay marriage sued California Attorney General Bill Lockyer on Tuesday, alleging that his summary of the measure prepared by the state for signature-gathering petitions is biased. Lockyer changed the name of the bill from the proposed "The Voters' Right to Protect Marriage [...]

A military group in Mauritania overthrew the president on Wednesday, with a junta taking temporary control of the West African nation. Mauritanian President Maaoya Sid'Ahmed Taya , who has allied with the US in the war on terror and severely cracked down on extremists , was out of the country when soldiers took control. He [...]

The Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), the political movement of former rebel leader turned vice president John Garang , called Wednesday for an international investigation into the helicopter crash that caused his death and ignited deadly clashes in Sudan. According to the newspaper Sudan Vision , a leading member of the SPLM has urged the [...]

Benyam Mohammed , a 27-year-old Ethiopian man held at Guantanamo, claims he was tortured in Pakistan, Morocco, and Afghanistan before arriving in Cuba. While there is no independent verification for Mohammed's claims, it is not the first allegation of US-facilitated abuse in foreign countries utilized in order to get around US laws against torture. Mohammed [...]