Al-Rawi and al-Banna, also a UK resident, were originally suspected of ties to al Qaeda because of their alleged connection with radical Muslim cleric Abu Qatada. The men were arrested returning to the UK from Gambia with a suspicious electronic device, which they claimed was a battery charger, and were taken into US custody. Despite a general refusal to represent resident aliens at Guantanamo, the British government agreed to help secure al Rawi's release last year after learning that al-Rawi had previously aided British security service MI5. UK Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett announced al-Rawi's impending release last Thursday; no official comments have been made regarding al-Banna's status.

Israeli Attorney General Meni Mazuz notified lawyers for Israeli President Moshe Katsav that a second rape charge may be added to Katsav's indictment for alleged sex crimes. The additional charges were made by the same woman who originally accused Katsav of sexual assault, fraud, and rape but it has not been made clear why these allegations have only recently emerged. Katsav, who has been on a leave of absence from his largely ceremonial post since January, was interrogated by police for more than two hours last week about the most recent charges.

Despite pleas for resignationfrom legal commentators and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Katsav has refused to considering resignation. All Israeli senior state officials have the right to a hearing before the attorney general before an indictment is formally filed. Katsav's hearing is tentatively scheduled for May 2. Katsav currently has immunity, but can be impeached or prosecuted after he leaves office at the end of this term this year.

A Japanese court threw out a lawsuit by a group of Japanese abandoned in China as children after Japan's defeat in World War II, officials said Thursday. Plaintiffs had alleged that the government was responsible for delaying their return to Japan by decades and, upon their return, denying them adequate state support. They sought 5.54 billion yen in compensation, according to a court spokesman. Presiding Judge Nobuaki Watanabe held that attempts to bring Japanese children at the close of the war were indeed "insufficient," but that government policy toward the orphans could not be considered "extremely irrational."

In January, a Tokyo District court denied compensation to 40 war orphans, and a similar claim was rejected by an Osaka court in 2005. In December 2006, a group of 61 former war orphans won a suit demanding 468 million yen in compensation. Thousands of Japanese children were abandoned in China as their parents fled the country to escape the approach of former Soviet troops at the end of the war in 1945; many children were later adopted by Chinese citizens. In 1972, about 2,500 "war orphans" returned to Japan after after the country normalized relations with China. In 1994, the Japanese government passed legislation providing financial assistance to Japanese nationals who returned to Japan. The 168 plaintiffs were among 2,200 war orphans who have filed suits in 15 courts in Japan.

Thousands of Polish citizens marched in Warsaw on Wednesday in support of a proposed constitutional amendment to enact a complete ban on abortion. The opposition Civic Platform party is expected to block passage of the amendment when it comes to a vote in April. Poland's current 1993 abortion law is considered among the strictest in Europe, allowing abortions only if the pregnancy threatens the life or health of the mother; if a fetus has a potentially life-threatening condition; or if the pregnancy is the product of a crime, which is only permitted during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. A two-thirds majority is needed to amend the Polish constitution.

Last year, a Polish woman challenged the abortion law before the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) as violating her privacy rights under the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The ECHR decided in her favor last week, but the ruling will not affect the Polish law.

Prosecutors are investigating the conditions under which some European public tenders were awarded and allegations that civil servants took bribes from real estate and security companies in exchange for contracts to rent and secure the Commission buildings. The investigation was launched three years ago and also involves OLAF, the EU's independent anti-fraud office.

Georgia's Ministry of Justice said Monday it has filed a lawsuit against Russia with the European Court of Human Rights for the alleged illegal deportation of Georgian citizens last year.

"The lawsuit is based on thousands of instances of serious violations of human rights of Georgian citizens and ethnic Georgians during their deportation from Russia," the ministry said in an official statement.

Russia and Georgia became caught up in an intense diplomatic row last September when the arrest of four Russian officers in Tbilisi on spying charges prompted Russia to deport hundreds of Georgians, cut off mail and transport links with Tbilisi as well as crack down on 'illegal' Georgian businesses.

Mikhail Kamynin, the Russian Foreign Ministry's official spokesman, said that "such actions by Tbilisi officials will not help [the two countries] normalize bilateral relations, which Russia is striving for."

Vissarion Bokhashvili, Georgia's representative at the Strasbourg Court, is expected to make a statement on the lawsuit later Tuesday.

According to unofficial information, the Georgian side will present evidence of deported citizens who allegedly suffered from inhumane treatment at Moscow's police detention centers, as well as documents proving that their stays in Russia were legal.

Relations between Georgia and Russia have been strained ever since the Western-leaning government of President Mikheil Saakashvili came to power in 2003.

In addition to tensions over the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which Saakashvili has pledged to restore to Georgia proper, Georgia's ambition to join the Western NATO military alliance has been sharply criticized by Russia.

Last March, Russia banned Georgian wine and mineral water, dealing a heavy blow to the ex-Soviet republic's fragile economy.

Following the spying row, the situation deteriorated further when Tbilisi subsequently threatened to withdraw its support for Russia's WTO bid.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed his sympathy and apologized Monday for the "situation" faced by so-called Korean and Chinese "comfort women" who were forced into sexual slavery during World War II. Abe stopped short of explicitly acknowledging the alleged roles of the wartime military and government in Japan in facilitating the practice. Until this point, Abe has been one of a number of politicians pushing for the government to revisit an official apology issued to victims in 1993 that was never ratified by the Japanese parliament.

Earlier this month, Abe denied allegations of forced sexual slavery in Imperial Japanese Army brothels, saying instead that the women were professional prostitutes paid for their services. A Japanese government probe this month also denied finding any evidence of forced prostitution.