Australian Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks will not speak to the media in violation of a court order, Hicks' lawyer said Wednesday. Despite statements by Australian Attorney-General Philip Ruddock that Australia cannot enforce the gag order once Hicks returns to the country, Hicks' lawyer told Australia's ABC News that Hicks is not interested in speaking to the media. According to his lawyer, Hicks "is focused on getting home...to be close to his family."

Hicks submitted an application Monday to be transferred to a prison near his home in South Australia to serve the remainder of his nine-month sentence after pleading guilty to a charge of supporting terrorism last week. The Australian government is awaiting formal documentation from US authorities to move Hicks from the US prison camp at Guantanamo Bay. Once this information is received, the Australian federal government can approach the state government in South Australia to move the process forward, including assessing security requirements and a potential control order.

Monica M. Goodling, on leave from her post as special counsel to the US Attorney General, told the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday that she will not speak to the committee about her role in last year's firing of eight US attorneys. Committee members said that a voluntary interview would forgo the need to subpoena Goodling, but Goodling's lawyer stated that even if she was subpoenaed before the committee, she would claim protection under the Fifth Amendment. Some House representatives doubt her ability to do so, stating that "her claims do not constitute a valid basis for invoking the privilege against self-incrimination." Goodling has said previously that she will refuse to testify before Congressional committees, indicating that she would plead the Fifth Amendment if called to speak.

Senate Democrats have rejected attempts by the White House to advance the date that US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is scheduled to testify on the firings. Gonzales defended his role in the firings on Friday, admitting that there has been some confusion, but saying that his involvement in the matter was limited to signing off on recommendations made by his former chief of staff Kyle Sampson. Sampson, who resigned last month, told the Senate Judiciary Committee last week that the prosecutors were fired for political reasons rather than for poor performance as the Justice Department has claimed. Sampson also said Gonzales did more than merely follow his recommendations, and that Gonzales and former White House counsel Harriet Miers were deeply involved in the firings.

Several Chinese consumers have decided to file a collective lawsuit against HP China because of the frequent failures of the company's LaserJet 3330 printer.

According to chinese media, beginning in 2004, more and more consumers have reported about the quality problems and design defects of HP's LaserJet 3330 printer, but HP has never given a definite answer on how it plans to solve the problems. As most of the users of this type of printer are companies, they don't worry much about the failure, but some individual consumers can't stand the frequent issues any more and they have decided to sue HP China. Local media have neither reported in which court the plaintiffs plan to file their case nor the exact amount of damages they are seeking.

A representative from HP China says that HP China has asked consumers to dial their free telephone hotline to report and solve the problem, but they don't say if there is any design problem with the printer. HP China also also has no plans now to recall the product.

This particular printer was made in 2003 and its production was stopped in 2004. In response to reports of the printer's scanning problem at that time, HP prolonged the maintenance period for one more year and in 2005 it offered a special exchange policy for this product.

A man accused of driving drunk and fatally injuring a Gainesville Police lieutenant in the aftermath of Tuesday morning's national championship celebration could be prosecuted under a law passed following the death of another GPD officer in 2001.

Attorneys with the State Attorney's Office are reviewing whether Austin J. Wright, accused of DUI manslaughter in connection with Gainesville Police Lt. Corey Dahlem's death, could be prosecuted under a law known as the Scott Baird Act.

Gainesville Police Officer Scott Baird, 23, died in 2001 after he was struck by a vehicle while trying to remove a batting cage that had been dragged from a field at Gainesville High School onto NW 16th Terrace. Baird had been with the department two years when he was killed.

The year following Baird's death, Florida legislators passed an act that makes manslaughter of a law enforcement officer punishable by a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison rather than 15 years.

Prosecutors plan to review crash investigation reports and other records before determining if Wright will be tried under the Scott Baird Act, said State Attorney's Office spokesman Spencer Mann.

Wright, listed by troopers as an Atlantic Beach resident, was being held at the Alachua County jail late Wednesday.

Earlier Wednesday, Wright had made his first court appearance, at which a $500,000 bond was set for his release, said Florida Highway Patrol spokesman Lt. Mike Burroughs.

Charges originally filed against Wright after the crash were driving under the influence with serious bodily injury to another and failure to stop or remain at an accident involving injury, Burroughs said. But, after Dahlem's death Wednesday afternoon, the charge was upgraded to DUI manslaughter aggravated by leaving the scene of a traffic crash involving death. Wright also was cited for careless driving and violation of a traffic control device.

Wright's prior criminal history and driving record show he had received tickets for speeding and was charged with minor drug-related charges.

Misdemeanor charges against Wright out of Highlands County for marijuana possession, possession of narcotics equipment and possession of alcohol by a person under 21 were dismissed, according to records from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. He also had been cited for speeding in Hernando and Duval counties last year, a report from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles showed.

Wright appeared to have a bruise on his cheek in a jail mug shot taken after his arrest. Police spokesman Lt. Keith Kameg said officers on the scene when Wright was stopped and later arrested said the bruise was present when he was taken into custody.

The name of an attorney representing Wright was not immediately available Wednesday.

He later threatened to force an early presidential election if the president does not rescind the order dissolving parliament.

About 2,000 supporters of the Ukrainian prime minister streamed into the Ukrainian capital Tuesday to protest the president's order to dissolve parliament and call early elections.

Yanukovich's supporters expanded a tent camp outside the parliament while the president's supporters announced plans to setup a stage in Independence Square.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko signed the decree Monday and called a parliamentary election to take place on May 27.

The decree went into effect when it was published in the country's official gazette, though Yanukovich had urged the president to hold back from publishing the decree amid fears of deepening the country's ongoing political strife.

Lawmakers from Yanukovich's parliamentary coalition have appealed for a ruling by the constitutional court on the legitimacy of the president's order, the Interfax news agency reported.

The president and the prime minister were to hold discussions on the crisis on Tuesday afternoon.

First of all, the decision of the Supreme Court we take very seriously. It's the new law of the land. And secondly, we're taking some time to fully understand the details of the decision... My attitude is, is that we have laid out a plan that will affect greenhouse gases that come from automobiles by having a mandatory fuel standard that insists upon using 35 billion gallons of alternative fuels by 2017, which will reduce our gasoline usage by 20 percent and halt the growth in greenhouse gases that emanate from automobiles. In other words, there is a remedy available for Congress. And I strongly hope that they pass this remedy quickly.

Bush, who opposes mandatory limits on carbon dioxide emissions, also reiterated his belief that rapidly developing countries such as China and India must do more to control pollution. Scientific research suggests that man-made greenhouse gases contribute to global warming.

Efforts to establish national emissions limits have gained traction in Congress since the Democrats became the majority party. Last month, former CIA director John Deutch recommended in a report to international civic leaders that the United States enact an EU-style cap-and-trade program among other measures to control greenhouse gas emissions. In January, a coalition of US businesses and environmental groups called for federal legislation to limit emissions. Overseas, the British government last month introduced a draft environmental bill that could control greenhouse gas emissions through 2050.

Reporters Without Borders (RWB) ranked the United States in 53rd place last October in its fifth annual Worldwide Index of Freedom. RWB mentioned Wolf's imprisonment among other factors contributing to the United States' slip of nine places in the rankings since the previous year.