The defense for US Army Spc. Charles Graner rested its case Thursday afternoon without Graner testifying on his own behalf during his court-martial at Fort Hood . Graner had been expected to testify that he had been ordered by military and civilian intelligence agents to soften up detainees at Abu Ghraib prison for further questioning. [...]

In Thursday's international brief, Somalia's parliament has approved the proposed cabinet of Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Ghedi Thursday in a crucial step towards establishing a truly functioning government for the trouble-ridden country. The proposed list was the second offering from Ghedi; his first selections were rejected by parliament, which claimed that Ghedi had not followed [...]

Human Rights Watch has released its 2005 human rights report surveying human rights developments in more than 60 countries in 2004. The report says that worldwide system for protecting human rights was significantly weakened in 2004 by the crisis in Darfur and the Abu Ghraib scandal:No one would equate the two, yet each, in its [...]

US District Court Judge Clarence Cooper has ruled that the Cobb County School District in Atlanta must remove an evolution disclaimer inside textbooks. The stickers inside the science books stated "Evolution is a theory not a fact." Judge Cooper said the stickers violated the Establishment Clause of the US Constitution. The case was brought by [...]

A five-day military court hearing for an unidentified Navy SEAL lieutenant accused of abusing an Iraqi prisoner at Abu Ghraib prison has concluded. Prosecutors said actions by the lieutenant were "unacceptable by any standard," while the officer's lawyer argued nothing he did warranted a court-martial. Navy's top SEAL, Rear Admiral Joe Maguire , will now [...]

A Mississippi judge set bond at $250,000 Wednesday for Edgar Ray Killen , an alleged former KKK member charged with the murders of three civil rights workers in 1964. The judge also ordered a March 28 trial date for 79-year-old Killen, who was arrested last week on state charges, the first against anyone for the [...]

A Congressional committee negotiating an intelligence reform bill last month backed away from greater restrictions on interrogation by the CIA under pressure from the White House, the New York Times reported Thursday. The restrictions were part of an initial bill that won overwhelming Senate support, but four Congressional leaders eliminated the provisions from a final [...]

UNICEF spokesmen said Thursday that they have evidence that Tamil Tiger rebels in northern and eastern Sri Lanka have recruited children in tsunami relief camps as child soldiers to help their ongoing struggle for autonomy against the Sri Lankan government. More than 30,000 Sri Lankans were killed in the tsunami on December 26, leaving thousands [...]

An Iranian court has summoned Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi for questioning on an undisclosed matter, indicating that she must appear by Sunday or face prison. Ebadi, Iran's first female judge, won the Nobel in 2003 for her defense of women's and children's rights, founding the Iranian Children's Rights Society . She lost her [...]

Leading Thursday's corporations and securities law news, the SEC is considering a combined settlement with several brokerage firms in its probe of the $204 billion auction-rate bond market. The SEC's investigation has uncovered several potential violations related to the sale of the bonds including manipulation of the bond's yields which increase borrowing costs for states, [...]