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WASHINGTON - Authorities dropped charges Friday against an aide to Virginia Sen. Jim Webb who carried a loaded gun into the U.S. Capitol complex. "After reviewing and analyzing all of the evidence in the case, we do not believe the essential elements of the crime of carrying a pistol without a license can be proved beyond a reasonable doubt," U.S. Attorney Jeff Taylor, top prosecutor in the District of Columbia, said in a short statement. Webb senior aide Phillip Thompson, 45, was arrested on March 26 after Capitol Police spotted the loaded pistol and two other loaded magazines in a...

WASHINGTON, April 26, 2007 – U.S. military officials in Iraq have charged an Army officer with aiding the enemy by providing an unmonitored cell phone to detainees, along with other crimes. Lt. Col. William H. Steele has been charged with offenses under four articles of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Officials emphasized that the charges constitute only an accusation of wrongdoing, and that Steele is presumed innocent unless and until he’s proven guilty in legal proceedings that follow. Officials allege that Steele aided the enemy by providing an unmonitored cellular phone to detainees between Oct. 1, 2005, and...

LONDON (AFP) - Close allies of British Prime Minister Tony Blair are set to be charged in the "cash for honours" row that has tainted his final year in office, newspapers said Saturday. Police investigating the allegations on Friday handed a 216-page file to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which will now decide whether anyone should face criminal proceedings in the case. The 13-month inquiry was launched amid claims that political parties, mainly Blair's governing Labour Party, had illegally offered their financial supporters seats in parliament's unelected upper House of Lords. Blair was interviewed twice as a witness in the...

Five men affiliated with a Missouri Islamic charity, which authorities claim has links to al-Qaida, have been indicted on charges that they illegally sent money to Iraq, federal prosecutors announced Wednesday. The five men associated with the Columbia, Mo.-based Islamic American Relief Agency-USA are charged in a 33-count indictment that alleges they stole government money and falsely represented their fundraising goals to the public. A federal grand jury returned the indictment Tuesday and it was unsealed Wednesday. The men charged are Mubarak Hamed, 50, who served as executive director of the agency; Ali Mohamed Bagegni, 53, a former board member;...

SAN'A, Yemen - Thirty-six Yemenis with alleged ties to al-Qaida went on trial Sunday on charges they planned to take part in foiled suicide attacks on oil and gas installations in the country, the official news agency SABA reported. Prosecutors accused the defendants of "forming an armed gang aimed at carrying out sabotage attacks," SABA reported, adding that they allegedly planned to attack oil installations in Marib and Hadaramout provinces with rocket-propelled grenades. The defendants have pleaded innocent to the charges, SABA said. Three of the suspects have claimed they were tortured in custody and forced to sign confessions, the...

2 Cousins Nabbed on Terror Charges Wednesday February 21, 2007 10:16 PM By MIKE ROBINSON Associated Press Writer CHICAGO (AP) - Two cousins were arrested Wednesday on charges of conspiring to commit ``jihad'' terrorist acts against Americans overseas, including U.S. military forces in Iraq. Zubair A. Ahmed, 27, of suburban North Chicago, and Khaleel Ahmed, 26, of Chicago, were arrested after a grand jury in Cleveland returned an indictment charging them and three other men who already had been facing terrorism charges. The indictment alleged that the conspiracy included finding fresh recruits to wage ``violent jihad'' against Americans and locating...

The U.S. attorney's office in San Diego is close to seeking an indictment against Brent Wilkes, a Poway defense contractor whose company received millions of dollars in government contracts after allegedly bribing the now-imprisoned Randy "Duke" Cunningham, two federal officials with intimate knowledge of the case said Tuesday. "I know we are so close," said one official, who agreed to speak with the North County Times on the condition that his name not be published. A preliminary draft indictment is under review by "many eyes on what is going to be proposed to the grand jury," according to the source....

CUSTOMERS of the internet auction site eBay are being defrauded by unscrupulous dealers who secretly bid up the price of items on sale to boost profits. An investigation by The Sunday Times has indicated that the practice of artificially driving up prices — known as shill bidding — is widespread across the site. Last week one of the UK’s biggest eBay sellers admitted in a taped conversation with an undercover reporter that he was prepared to use business associates to bid on his goods for him. Our inquiries found evidence that a number of businesses — ranging from overseas property...

New Ethics Charges for Duke Prosecutor Wednesday January 24, 2007 3:01 PM By AARON BEARD Associated Press Writer RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - The state bar has added ethics charges to a complaint filed against the prosecutor who brought sexual assault charges against three Duke lacrosse players, accusing him of withholding DNA evidence and making misleading statements to the court. The new charges by the North Carolina State Bar against Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong were announced Wednesday and could lead to his removal from the state bar, according to a copy of the updated complaint. Nifong's office arranged for...

CANBERRA, Australia - An Australian inquiry on Monday recommended police pursue criminal charges against 12 business officials in connection with multimillion-dollar kickbacks that the country's monopoly wheat exporter paid under the U.N.'s Iraqi oil-for-food program. The report found no illegal activity by the Australian government. The royal commission's report into payments by the Australian Wheat Board said 11 of its officers might have breached Australian corporate law and a 12th executive employed by another company that had dealings with AWB might be guilty of criminal conspiracy. Prime Minister John Howard ordered the inquiry last year after an investigation by former...

Supermodel held on assault charge POSTED: 1534 GMT (2334 HKT), October 26, 2006 LONDON, England (CNN) -- Naomi Campbell has been arrested and questioned by police in London after a woman alleged the supermodel assaulted her. Campbell was taken to a central London station for questioning on Wednesday after the assault allegation. The Press Association said Campbell, who has appeared on the covers of Vogue and countless other fashion magazines, was released later on bail. (Watch what an anger management expert had to say about Campbell's rap sheet -- 1:29) A police spokesman told CNN a 36-year-old woman had been...

London - British television journalist Terry Lloyd was 'unlawfully killed' by US forces in southern Iraq in 2003, an inquest by a coroner in Britain concluded Friday. Lloyd, who was 50 when he died, had 'disappeared in a hail of American tank fire' as he and three colleagues approached the southern Iraqi port of Basra on a highway on March 22, 2003, the inquest report said. His wife, Lynn, and daughter Chelsey Friday called for the US marine who opened fire on Lloyd's convoy to face murder charges. 'The marines who fired on civilians and those who gave the orders...

LOS ANGELES - The charge of treason was used for the first time in the United States' war on terrorism Wednesday, filed against a California man who appeared in propaganda videos for al-Qaida. Adam Yehiye Gadahn, 28, could be sentenced to death if convicted of the charge, which has been used only a few dozen times in U.S. history and not at all since the World War II era. He also was indicted on a charge of providing material support to terrorists. Gadahn "knowingly adhered to an enemy of the United States, namely, al-Qaida, and gave al-Qaida aid and comfort...

SANTA ROSA, Calif. - The former suspect in the JonBenet Ramsey killing left jail Thursday after a judge dismissed child pornography charges against him, saying prosecutors didn't have enough evidence to take the case to trial. John Mark Karr, who was not in court for the hearing, was ordered released immediately by Sonoma County Superior Court Judge Rene Chouteau, ending his two-month odyssey in the U.S. criminal justice system after he was extradited from Thailand on suspicion of killing the 6-year-old beauty queen. He did not comment to reporters as he left the Sonoma County jail flanked by his attorneys,...

Ga. Terror Suspects Want Charges Tossed Wednesday October 4, 2006 4:46 AM By HARRY R. WEBER Associated Press Writer ATLANTA (AP) - Lawyers for two men charged with providing material support to terrorists want some charges against their clients dismissed and some evidence and conversations with investigators suppressed. A flurry of motions were filed by defense lawyers for Syed Ahmed and Ehsanul Sadequee in federal court in Atlanta this week. Sadequee, 20, and Ahmed, 21, are accused of discussing terror targets with Islamic extremists and undergoing training to carry out a ``violent jihad'' against civilian and government targets, including an...

JERUSALEM – Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was questioned for 45 minutes yesterday by Israel's state comptroller regarding a suspicious real estate deal suspected of facilitating bribes to the Israeli leader in exchange for political favors. An official report to be issued on the subject in two weeks by the comptroller, Micha Lindenstrauss, will recommend Israel's attorney general file criminal charges against Olmert, top sources in the Lindenstrauss' office told WorldNetDaily. If charges indeed are filed, Olmert would need to resign as prime minister according to Israeli law. The comptroller's investigation focuses on Olmert's acquisition of a home in a posh...

Prosecutors filed murder and kidnapping charges Monday against a man accused in the gruesome dragging death of his 49-year-old girlfriend. Jose Luis Rubi-Nava, 36, also faces charges of forging and possessing a government-issued document. He was being held without bail. The battered and disfigured body of Luz Marie Franco Fierros was found Sept. 18 in a normally quiet subdivision about 20 miles south of Denver. Investigators say Franco Fierros had been dragged behind a vehicle for more than a mile, leaving a bloody trail. Preliminary autopsy results said she suffered fatal head injuries and strangled as she was dragged. She...

A middle school teacher who burned two American flags as part of a civics lesson won't be charged, but may still face discipline from the school board... (SNIP) Bill Patteson, a spokesman for the Jefferson County Attorney's Office, said the evidence doesn't warrant filing a charge of criminal wanton endangerment charge - causing significant risk of serious injury or death. (SNIP)

PIETERMARITZBURG, South Africa - In a boost to his presidential hopes, a judge on Wednesday dismissed a corruption indictment against Jacob Zuma, who walked from court and broke into a Zulu song, "Bring me my machine gun." Jubilant supporters sang along, convinced the populist politician's quest to lead South Africa has gained momentum. But concerns about the former deputy president may linger. Judge Herbert Msimang first denied a motion for a postponement from prosecutors, who argued they needed more time to prepare. When stunned prosecutors said they were unable to begin immediately, the judge said he had no choice but...

LANCASTER, Wis. - A judge on Friday dismissed charges of attempted sexual assault against three men accused of trying to dig up a woman's body to have sex with the corpse, noting that Wisconsin has no law against necrophilia. The men still face lesser charges. Twins Nicholas and Alexander Grunke, 20, and Dustin Radke, 20, were arrested after an alleged attempt to dig up the body of a 20-year-old woman who was killed Aug. 27 in a motorcycle crash. Officials said a caller reported suspicious activity in the cemetery Sept. 2, and deputies found someone had dug down to her...