Leading Wednesday's states brief, Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius signed legislation today that increases school funding by $148.4 million for the upcoming school year and prohibits any state court handling a lawsuit over school funding...

Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA) said Wednesday he preferred waiting until September to begin hearings for US Supreme Court nominee John G. Roberts, creating a tight timetable for Roberts to be approved by the full Senate in time...

Saudi Arabia announced Wednesday that the United States has returned three Saudi detainees from the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. Government television said that "legal measures concerning them will be completed" but gave no other details. The...

Leading Wednesday's international brief, in the strongest statement so far by a European governmental body, the German Bundestag has called on the German government to take several strong steps against the administration of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe...

In the wake of the US Supreme Court's June decision in Kelo v. New London allowing a local government authority to expropriate private property for private redevelopment that confers economic benefits on the community, legislators...

Under pressure from the US government, Unocal late Tuesday accepted an increased $17.1 billion buyout bid from Chevron, turning down an $18.5 billion offer from the China National Offshore Oil Company Ltd. (CNOOC) ....

Several Sunni Arab members of the 71-member team drafting the new Iraq constitution have halted their participation in the process following the assassination of two colleagues Tuesday. Differing reports say that between 4 and 15 Sunni members...

A federal shield law for reporters introduced by Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN) and Rep. Representative Mike Pence (R-IN) was called "bad public policy" by US Deputy Attorney General James Comey in written remarks submitted at...

The commissioner of Israel's prison service Ya'akov Ganot told a Knesset committee on Wednesday that Israeli detention facilities were equipped to hold as many as 2,300 anti-pullout activists predicted to take part in illegal protests against the...

US Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter said Wednesday that a bill he is co-sponsoring to end asbestos injury lawsuits is unlikely to receive a vote in the Senate before the August recess. The statement comes after...