Iraqi officials and members Iraq's Independent Electoral Commission appear to be in growing disagreement over the advisability of holding elections in the country as scheduled on January 30. On Monday, Iraqi Defense Minister Hazem Shaalan suggested in Cairo that a postponement might allow Sunni parties who have withdrawn to participate in the process in a [...]

Attorney General nominee Alberto Gonzales seems likely to face stiff questioning in his Senate confirmation hearing this week after the Bush administration's refusal to provide senators with copies of his memos on the interrogation of suspected terrorists. Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, the Senate's second-ranking Democrat, sharply criticized the White House move Monday, complaining that "We [...]

A military hearing begins Tuesday at the San Diego Naval Base for a US Navy SEAL accused of punching an Iraqi prisoner and allowing personnel under his command to abuse the prisoner. Manadel al-Jamadi, a suspect in a Red Cross facility bombing, died in Abu Ghraib a short time after being captured in November 2003. [...]

AP is reporting that Chile's Supreme Court has upheld the indictment and house arrest of former dictator Augusto Pinochet, according to a court spokesman. 10:52 AM ET – Reuters now has more on the decision, which allows a human rights case against Pinochet for kidnapping and murder to go forward. From Santiago. Channel 13 television [...]

House Republicans on Monday reversed ethics rules adopted in November that would allow party leaders to maintain their posts even if they were indicted for illegal behavior. The closed-door GOP party meeting did, however, make it easier for one party to block a House ethics committee investigation by requiring a majority vote of the now-evenly [...]

Britain's Freedom of Information Act took substantive effect Monday on the first UK workday of the new year, 4 years after its passage by Parliament. Under the Act, any recorded governmental information, including paper records, e-mails, computer records, audio, video, microfiche, and handwritten notes can be requested by the public and the appropriate governmental department [...]

Mercier et al. v. Fraternal Order of Eagles, US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, January 3, 2005 . Excerpt: The City also had a rather obvious secular motive for the sale – it wanted to eliminate its ownership in the Monument to preempt litigation accusing it of using the Monument to endorse a [...]

Overturning a lower court ruling, the US Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in a split decision Monday that the sale to a private organization of land containing a Ten Commandments monument in a La Crosse Wisconsin public park did not violate the Establishment Clause of the Constitution. Circuit Judge Daniel A. Maion wrote:The City [...]

In an apparent effort to address growing concerns about scandal and corruption in the United Nations system UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan Monday announced the appointment of UN Development Program head Mark Malloch Brown as his new Chief of Staff, the number three position in the UN structure after Annan and Canadian Deputy Under-Secretary Louise Frechette. [...]

A top advisor to Russian President Vladimir Putin who publicly voiced concerns about the Russian government takeover of Yukos, free speech limitations and Russian policy towards Ukraine has been stripped of his responsibilities as Russia's envoy to the G8 industrial nations, according to a Kremlin statement issued Monday. No official reason was given for the [...]