Iraq National Reconciliation and Dialogue Plan, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, June 25, 2006 . English text as provided by the Iraqi government: In The Name of God The National Reconciliation and Dialogue project In order to confirm the coherence between the Iraqi people, establishing the basis of national unity among their different components, to treat [...]

A lawyer for the US Department of Justice on Tuesday defended President Bush's frequent use of signing statements to interpret legislation passed by Congress, in testimony before the US Senate Judiciary Committee . Deputy Assistant Attorney General Michelle E. Boardman testified during the committee's hearing on signing statements that presidents dating to James Monroe have [...]

The Chinese government said Tuesday that a law imposing fines on media organizations reporting national emergencies without gaining local government approval could go into effect by October. The law, which has been sent to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress , would fine media organizations up to $12,000 for reporting on emergencies such [...]

A group of media organizations has asked a Canadian judge to consider vacating a media blackout in the cases of 17 men arrested in Ontario earlier this month and charged with a terrorist plot. Under Canada's Criminal Code, a judge may order a publication ban on details from court hearings in order to protect a [...]

US District Judge Fernando Gaitan Jr. halted all executions in Missouri Monday until Missouri can ensure that inmates do not suffer when given a lethal injection. Gaitan gave the Missouri Department of Corrections until July 15 to find a new way to execute inmates, ruling in the case of death row inmate Michael Taylor. The [...]

Lawyers for two of the seven men indicted last week on terrorism charges for allegedly conspiring to bomb the Sears Tower in Chicago and the FBI headquarters in Miami said Monday that their clients were entrapped by an FBI informant posing as an al Qaeda operative. Albert Levin, the court-appointed attorney for Patrick Abraham, told [...]

Saddam Hussein and at least six co-defendants will face a second trial beginning August 21 for allegedly killing 100,000 Kurds during the so-called "Anfal" operation in northern Iraq in the 1980s, the Iraqi High Tribunal said Tuesday. The tribunal filed genocide and crimes against humanity charges against Hussein and his co-defendants in April, though reports [...]

John Bellinger , the top legal adviser for the US State Department , said Monday that the US would like to close its detention camp at Guantanamo Bay , but must first make sure that detainees will not pose a security risk or face torture when returned to their native countries. Bellinger added that several [...]

Iraq's council of ministers on Monday took the first steps to elaborate on Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's national reconciliation initiative , which he unveiled to parliament Sunday. In a statement, the council said that government employees who had been detained would be reinstated to their positions and for purposes of promotion and retirement, their [...]

Opening arguments began Tuesday in the fraud trial of Tongsun Park , who has been charged with money laundering, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and acting as an unregistered agent of the government of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein in connection with the now-defunct UN oil-for-food program . The prosecutor in the trial, the first [...]