THE United States weathered criticism of its human rights record from friends and foes alike in a United Nations forum that the former Bush administration had boycotted as hypocritical.

A NOT GUILTY plea has been entered on behalf of a Nigerian man charged with attempting to blow up a Detroit-bound US airliner on Christmas Day.

The man charged with attempting to blow up a plane on Christmas Day is due to appear in court in the US.

A Nigerian charged with trying to blow up a packed US airliner on Christmas Day will appear in court in Detroit, Michigan, today.

The US government may buy a nearly-empty prison in rural Illinois to house detainees from Guantanamo Bay along with other inmates.

The US has asked Spain to accept four prisoners from the Guantanamo Bay prison for terrorism suspects, it emerged today.

THE tiny Pacific nation of Palau’s decision to allow 13 Chinese Muslims from the Guantanamo Bay prison camp to resettle there has sparked anger among islanders who fear for the safety of the tourist haven.

A US White House press release on April 16 confirmed the publication of legal memos issued by senior US administration legal officers between 2002 and 2005, that effectively authorised the use of torture on prisoners in US custody.

President Barack Obama continued his march to reverse contentious Bush administration policies, ending the ban on giving government money to international groups that perform abortions or provide information.

President-elect Barack Obama will renew the hunt for al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and plans to explore a more regional strategy to the war in Afghanistan, his national security advisers told US media today.

The US military said today that it will allow detainees to make regular phone calls to their families from Guantanamo Bay prison, where many have been confined in extreme isolation for as long as six years.

The US military has filed murder charges against Omar Khadr, a Canadian who was a teenager when he was captured in Afghanistan and sent to the Guantanamo Bay prison in 2002.

Revised rules for the treatment and military trials of detainees at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp are “too little and too late”, Britain’s attorney general said today, repeating his call to close the facility.

President George Bush is to sign a law that sets tough standards for interrogation and prosecution of terror suspects, a major White House victory that demonstrates Bush still has the political power to set the rules of war even as Iraq clouds his US presidency.

The US Pentagon has ordered an investigation into possible abuse at the Guantanamo Bay prison after a Marine officer said she overheard guards boasting about beating detainees.

United Nations human rights investigators criticised the US today for failing to take steps to close the Guantanamo Bay prison for terror suspects, which they say facilitates torture and violates international law.

Everybody has the responsibility to fight the threat of lethal modern terrorism, Australian Prime Minister John Howard tonight told the Dáil.

THE US Government has released the most extensive list yet of the hundreds of detainees who have been held at the Guantanamo Bay prison - nearly all labelled enemy combatants, but only a handful of whom have faced formal charges.

The US government has released the most extensive list yet of the hundreds of detainees who have been held at the Guantanamo Bay prison – nearly all labelled enemy combatants, but only a handful of whom have faced formal charges.

A newly enacted federal law that could void hundreds of pending lawsuits filed by detainees held at the US military’s Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba is at the centre of a case before a US appeals court.

The Pentagon will not close its Guantanamo Bay prison for terrorist suspects, despite UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s call to shut it down, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said yesterday.

THE United States is violating a host of human rights, including a ban on torture, arbitrary detention and the right to a fair trial at Guantanamo Bay prison, a United Nations report said yesterday.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said tonight the US should close its Guantanamo Bay prison for terror suspects as soon as possible, backing a key conclusion of a UN-appointed panel.

The Pentagon has admitted for the first time that a soldier deliberately kicked the Koran at Guantanamo Bay prison for terror suspects, and that an interrogator stepped on the Muslim holy book and was later sacked for “a pattern of unacceptable behaviour”.

More than 200 Muslim members of India’s main opposition party marched in New Delhi today, demanding that Washington apologise for US interrogators’ alleged desecration of Islam’s holy book at Guantanamo Bay prison.

US authorities have handed over six French detainees from Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba to French authorities, officials said in Paris.

Three months after a get-tough US general took command of the Guantanamo Bay prison for terror suspects, prisoners began a flurry of suicide attempts, according to military records.

US military units holding and interrogating prisoners in Iraq did not get a specific list of techniques permitted during questioning and were expected to follow the Geneva Conventions, a senior Pentagon official said.

THE US Defence Department last year approved interrogation techniques for use at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba that include forcing inmates to strip naked and subjecting them to loud music, bright lights and sleep deprivation, the Washington Post reported on Saturday.

Military chiefs responsible for running the Guantanamo Bay prison housing Taliban and al-Qaida suspects said cases of prisoner abuse were dealt with quickly to prevent the type of scandal plaguing US officials in Iraq.

I WAS pleasantly surprised to learn that George W Bush has actually heard of the Geneva Convention. He quoted it with reference to the US soldiers captured

THREE Afghans released after months of captivity at a US military base in Cuba yesterday said they were chained during interrogations but generally treated well

Three Afghans released after months of captivity at a US military base in Cuba today said they were chained up during frequent interrogations but generally treated well by their American captors.