Some of the best-known terror suspects in US custody are heading for prosecution after president George Bush signed a bill intended to put US treatment of detainees in compliance with international law.

A former aide to the US Republican congressman who resigned over a sex scandal plans to testify to a Congressional ethics committee that Republican leaders knew about the problem at least three years ago.

US politicians, following a request from the House Ethics Committee, are surveying aides and former House pages to find out if any of them had knowledge of ex-congressman Mark Foley’s inappropriate conduct toward male pages.

Investigations into an ex-congressman’s teenage online sex scandal were intensifying today as the Republican leader of the House of Representatives who has become embroiled in the political storm said he will not quit.

The leader of the US House of Representatives’ job is on the line as members of the House ethics committee decide how to launch a credible investigation of former Congressman Mark Foley’s salacious computer messages to teenage pages.

The US, holding the line against a quick ceasefire deal in the Middle East, is increasingly isolated as world powers and the United Nations demand an immediate end to fighting between Israel and Hezbollah militants.

The US is encouraging Israel to hold “serious talks” with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as an alternative to the Hamas-dominated Palestinian Authority.

With formal peacemaking a dim prospect at this volatile time, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert intends to sound out US President George Bush today about Olmert’s ambitious plan to impose a West Bank settlement on the Palestinians.

The Bush administration secretly required a company in the United Arab Emirates to cooperate with future US investigations before approving its takeover of operations at six American ports, it emerged today.

Embattled Congressman Tom DeLay decided today to give up his post as House majority leader – the leader of Republicans in the House of Representatives - clearing the way for new leadership elections among House Republicans eager to shed the taint of scandal, two officials said.

Congress approved a one-month extension of the USA Patriot Act and sent it to President George Bush in a pre-Christmas scramble to prevent many of its anti-terrorism provisions from expiring on December 31.

THE American Senate yesterday rejected attempts to re-authorise several provisions of the USA Patriot Act as infringing too much on Americans’ privacy and liberty, dealing a huge defeat to the Bush administration.

The inadequate response to Katrina is due to a failure to heed the danger signs, writes Ron Fournier.

THE US House of Representatives has overwhelmingly approved a $491 billion (€392bn) defence bill that contains new funds for the war in Iraq, but it rejected an attempt to force on the Bush administration a timetable for withdrawing troops from the country.

A small plane strayed within three miles of the White House, leading to frantic evacuation of the Executive Mansion and the Capitol with military jets scrambling to intercept the aircraft and firing flares to steer it away.

THE US Congress yesterday put off action on a bill aimed at prolonging the life of a brain-damaged woman who had her feeding tube removed by court order.

Murder victim Robert McCartney’s family will today head for Washington on the next stage of their bid to hound his killers into court.

Sinn Féin chief Martin McGuinness tonight urged IRA murder victim Robert McCartney’s sisters to stay out of party politics.

A second Sinn Féin election candidate was in the Belfast pub where IRA murder victim Robert McCartney was attacked, it emerged tonight.

Belgium’s King Albert and other dignitaries marked the 60th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge today, honouring thousands of American soldiers who died fighting Nazi Germany’s desperate bid to stop the Allied advance across Western Europe.

The EU has selected politically sensitive US products to punish with tariffs next year if Washington does not quickly repeal an antidumping law ruled illegal by the World Trade Organisation.

Republicans tightened their grip on the US Senate today, capturing a string of Democratic seats while extending their decade-long hold on Congress.

The Bush administration has asked Congress for a €23.6bn downpayment for next year’s US operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, despite the White House’s earlier plans not to seek the money until after the November elections.

US lawmakers have drafted a resolution thanking Tony Blair for backing America in the war against Iraq.

AN audiotape attributed to Osama bin Laden threatening more terror against America and its allies has US officials concerned that the long-absent terrorist leader has re-emerged to direct new al-Qaida attacks.

Republicans appear to be headed toward extending their eight-year control of the House of Representatives.

George W Bush has promised to seek congressional approval to use military force to oust Saddam Hussein as the White House considered giving Iraq a last-ditch ultimatum over weapons inspectors.

THE US Senate has approved the most sweeping changes in corporate accountability since the Depression, creating stiff penalties and jail terms for company fraud and tightening oversight of the accounting industry.

Thirty-one employees of the US Senate tested positive for exposure to a highly concentrated form of anthrax, officials said, prompting congressional leaders to order an unprecedented shutdown of some of their offices.

White House officials and congressional leaders agreed early Friday to final details of a $40bn package to combat terrorism and recover from attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

In an extraordinary show of bipartisan unity, congressional leaders said they intended to begin pushing an emergency anti-terrorism package through Congress on Thursday with a price tag that could exceed $20bn.

The Republican-controlled House of Representative has voted for an across-the-board tax cut of nearly $1 trillion over the next decade.