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Reports on the slow pace taken by jury members in deliberating the case of lawyer, Lynne Stewart, who was accused of aiding Islamic terrorists. Review of the full videotape of meetings between Stewart and her clients; Background of the case; Details of the other evidence given to the jury.

Reports that Alvin K. Hellerstein, a federal court district judge in Manhattan, New York, has told the Central Intelligence Agency that it could not invoke any blanket of exemption from requirements to disclose internal documents under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in the United States. Judge's order to the agency to release documents about its interrogation of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan and at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; Challenge to American Civil Liberties Union's FOIA suit; Refusal of the agency to comment on the ruling.

Reports that separate corruption inquiries into the Iraq oil-for-food aid program have clashed, leading to difficult negotiations over information-sharing and access to witnesses. Negotiations to make sure the commission investigating the program would maintain the secrecy of any witnesses or evidence he made available, to avoid compromising the investigation of David Kelley, a U.S. attorney leading a separate investigation.

Reports that it took three federal appeals court judges barely an hour in January 28, 2005 to decide not to halt the execution of convicted serial murderer Michael Bruce Ross. Background on the emotionally charged debate leading to the decision; Background on the string of murders committed by Ross.

Reports that some jurors in the terrorism trial of lawyer Lynne F. Stewart have complained that they had felt threatened on January 25, 2005, when their van driver took an unexpected turn outside court and shouted at a cluster of Stewart's supporters. Previous anti-gay and racial remarks made by the driver.

Reports on a ruling by panel of judges for the U.S. court of appeals in Manhattan to reinstate part of a suit against MacDonald's which charges the fast food restaurant's liability for obesity and heart ailments in teenagers fond of its hamburgers and fries.

Reports on the release of documents by Cornell University regarding the murder of college student Dzung Ngoc Tu in 1981 by serial killer Michael Bruce Ross. Decision to release the papers after a panel decision to stop the execution of Ross on January 26, 2005; Revelation of several conversations between campus police investigators and the family of Dzung Ngoc Tu; Claim by investigator Scott C. Hamilton of receiving directives from Tu's father of not pursuing the case against Ross to spare further pain from the family.

Reports on the defense presented by the lawyer of American Lynne Stewart who has been accused of knowing about a conspiracy among terrorists in Egypt and aiding them in their activities. Stewart's lawyer's claim that prosecutors had failed to present any evidence that proves Stewart's guilt; Evidence presented by the government that got the case to court.

Reports that a defense lawyer in the trial of Lynne F. Stewart, has accused U.S. government prosecutors of trying to play on jurors' fears by repeatedly referring to terrorist Osama bin Laden and the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack during the trial. Trial of Stewart for conspiring with Egyptian terrorists; Relationship of Stewart with co-defendant Ahmed Abdel Sattar; Telephone conversations of Sattar with Islamic militants.

Reports a federal judge in Manhattan, New York City denied the bail application yesterday of John Gotti, a member of a crime family who was accused of killing radio talk show host Curtis Sliwa. Lack of evidence that shows the suspect running the crime cell from his prison; Rejection of the prosecutor's argument that the suspect threatened the key witness.

Reports that a federal prosecutor in New York City scrapped a federal case against Lynne F. Stewart, a lawyer accused of aiding terrorists. Efforts of the prosecutor to attack the defendant's credibility after she released a statement to the news media on behalf of an imprisoned client stating that she secretly wanted to help militants overthrow the Egyptian government; Her violation of prison rules that prohibit lawyers to convey their client's messages to the media.

Reports on federal prosecutor Andrew Dember's arguments during the trial of Lynne F. Stewart, a lawyer accused of terrorist conspiracy. Dember's claim that Stewart lied when she testified that she never meant to promote Islamic violence; Judge John G. Koeltl of Federal District Court in Manhattan's rejection of mistrial motions from lawyers of Stewart; Dember's argument against co-defendant, Ahmed Abdel Sattar.

Reports on the final day of testimony in the trial of Lynne F. Stewart, a New York defense lawyer, on charges of terrorism. Prosecutor Christopher Morvillo's cross-examination of Stewart's co-defendant Ahmed Abdel Sattar; How Morvillo concluded his cross-examination of Sattar.

Reports that top executives of five New York, New York construction companies have been indicted on charges of making illegal payoffs to union officials. Charges of conspiracy, mail fraud, and illegal labor payments; Mob corruption in the city's construction industry; Dino Tomassetti as lead defendant; John Amicucci; Guerino Cavaliere; Peter Ruttura; Edward Simpson.

Reports that Ahmed Abdel Sattar, a co-defendant in the trial of Lynne F. Stewart, a lawyer accused of aiding terrorists, has sent letters and small amounts of money to imprisoned Muslims who had been convicted in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center and in a separate failed bomb plot.

Reports that Ely Sakhai, the owner of the gallery, Exclusive Art, pleaded guilty in Federal District Court in Manhattan to fraud charges in the forgery operation. Amount that Sakhai agreed to pay to collectors who bought the forgeries.

Reports on the admittance by Ahmed Abdel Sattar of editing a Muslim edict that instructed for the killing of Jews. Citation of Sattar’s role as co-defendant in the trial of lawyer Lynne F. Stewart accused of conspiring with Islamic terrorists; Testimony of Sattar of urging Islamic militant Rifai Taha to write the text of the fatawa in Afghanistan and posting it on the Internet under the name of Sheik Omar Adbel Rahman; Reason for the fatawa on the eruption of violence in Israel after Ariel Sharon’s visit to the Al Aqsa mosque which violated the holy place; Belief of the justification of the edict due to the killing of Palestinians.

Reports on New York City District Attorney Robert Morgenthau's call for the reform of the 1973 drug sentencing legislation.

Reports on government witness Michael DiLeonardo's testimony in the racketeering trial of Peter Gotti, a leader of the Gambino crime family, in the Federal District Court in Manhattan, New York City.

Reports on the defense of Lynne F. Stewart on her terror trial in New York. Allegation that she aided terrorism by breaking strict gag rules imposed on her client Omar Abdel Rahman by the U.S. government and relaying a warmongering message from him to his Islamic followers; Suggestion that Stewart's fate hinges on the weight and meaning the jury will give to the words of Rahman, a fundamentalist Muslim cleric serving life sentence in federal prison for inspiring a thwarted bombing conspiracy in New York City.

Reports on the arrest of two violent Chinese gangs who started a string of local gambling parlors that turned the network into a thriving international smuggling conglomerate in the United States. Leaders of the gangs; Amount of money and counterfeit merchandize seized by customs and other agents; Charges filed against the gang members; Main victims of the gangs' violence.

Reports on the testimony given by former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark at the trial of Lynne F. Stewart, a lawyer accused of abetting terrorism, in November 2004. Clark's description of frequent encounters he had with the news media on behalf of a convicted terrorist whom he and Stewart represented; Impact of Clark's testimony on Stewart's argument that helping the client to communicate with the press was needed to defend him; Facts of the case.

Reports on the lawsuit filed by Sami Leka, who has served 12 years in prison over a murder conviction, against New York City and Brooklyn district attorney, Charles Hayes, seeking damages for malicious prosecution. Appeals court's discovery that the prosecutors had withheld crucial evidence which prompted the malicious prosecution lawsuit filed by Hayes; Details of Leka's murder conviction.

Reports that Manhattan Federal District Court Judge Lawrence M. McKenna has premanently barred the New York City police from removing homeless people from the steps of the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church.

Reports on the cross-examination of lawyer Lynne F. Stewart in a trial about her defense of Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, a blind fundamentalist Muslim cleric serving a life sentence for a failed plot to bomb buildings and tunnels in New York. Charges of providing material support to terrorism by making the sheik's views on the cease-fire known to his followers; Reason for taking letters from friends and relatives of the sheik into prison without showing them to the authorities.

Reports on the trial of lawyer Lynne F. Stewart for allegedly aiding terrorism in the U.S. Details of the case.

Reports that a federal appeals court in Manhattan, New York City has reversed a lower court ruling and dismissed a lawsuit against the political party of Robert Mugabe, the president of Zimbabwe. Filing of the suit in New York City when Mugabe attended a United Nations meeting; Diplomatic immunity of Mugabe; Error of Judge Victor Marrero in allowing the suit to go forward.

Reports on the denial of bail for the member of the Gambino crime family, John A Gotti who is accused of trying to murder radio talk show host, Curtis Silva. Trial proceedings at the Federal District Court in Manhattan, New York city; Profile on Gotti and his involvement in organized crime.

gDiscusses federal prosecutors' evidence against Lynne F. Stewart, a defense lawyer accused of aiding terrorism. Indication that Stewart knowingly violated strict prison registration on a convicted terrorist client; Tape-recorded telephone call made by Stewart on June 15, 2000, after the international press publicized a message she had relayed from the client, Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman; Special measures written by Patrick J. Fitzgerald, a prosecutor in the sheik's 1995 terror trial, that govern the life sentence of Rahman in federal prison.

`Reports that Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein in Federal District Court in New York City has ordered the Pentagon and other federal agencies to produce a list of all their documents on the detentions at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq by October 15, 2004. Lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union against the U.S. government for failing to provide any relevant documents in response to a Freedom of Information Act request the group made on October 7, 2003.

Reports that Federal District Court judge Peter K. Leisure ruled against Paula Corbin Jones in her breach of contract lawsuit against New York real estate mogul Abraham Hirschfeld.

Reports on Egyptian reporter Esmat Salaheddin's testimony in federal court that accused lawyer Lynne F. Stewart called him to publicize a statement from a client convicted of terrorism at a time when she was under orders not to do so. Summoning of Salaheddin from Egypt to verify quotations from the telephone interview with Stewart that he cited in an article he wrote as a Reuters reporter on June 14, 2000.

Reports on the arraignment of suspected Colombia narcotics organization leader Jose Maria Henao Mejia in a Federal District Court in Manhattan after being extradited from Colombia.

Reports that Judge John Cataldo, unmoved by objections from lawyers for New York City, has declined to dismiss contempt proceedings against the city for holding protesters too long during the Republican National Convention.

Reports on the guilty plea of Consuelo Marquez, former investment manager at Lehman Brothers Inc., to banking and wire fraud charges in New York. Alleged use of fraudulent loans to invest in the stock market.

Reports on the presentation of a videotape of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden during the trial of lawyer Lynne F. Stewart in New York City on September 7, 2004. Showing of videotape showing bin Laden summoning Muslims to free an Islamic cleric held in a U.S. prison; Reaction of Stewart to the showing of the videotape; Prosecutors' efforts to show link between Stewart and imprisoned Muslim cleric Abdel Rahman.

Reports on the presentation of evidence against John A. Gotti, accused of attempted murder in the shooting of television talk show host Curtis Sliwa in New York City. Arraignment of Gotti in the Federal District Court of Manhattan; Suspicion of the involvement of Gotti's lawyer in organized crime.

Reports that Roman Nektalov, a gem dealer whose son was murdered by a gunman in May 2004 on the street near their diamond district store, was convicted in July 2004 in federal court in Manhattan on one count of laundering money for the Colombian drug trade.

Reports that Judge Robert Sweet of Federal District Court in Manhattan modified his own earlier ruling on July 28, 2004, to give the police a little more flexibility if they want to search bags and backpacks of protesters at the Republican National Convention.

Reports that Muhamed Sacirbey, a former Bosnian diplomat who was held in the Metropolitan Detention Center in New York City since March 2003, was released on July 27, 2004 on bail. Extradition of Sacirbey to Bosnia for questioning in an investigation of money believed stolen from Bosnia's United Nations mission when Sacirbey was the ambassador.

Reports that the jury in Federal District Court in Manhattan, New York City found that Alan Quinones and Diego Rodriguez ran a cocaine and heroine distribution gang in the Bronx and convicted them of the murder of police informant Edwin Santiago in June 1999.

Reports that New York City officials joined a federal lawsuit brought on July 21, 2004, by New York and seven other states against five of the United States' largest power companies in an effort to curb global warming. City lawyer Michael A. Cardozo's statements on the impact that global warming could one day have on New York; Companies named in the lawsuit; Reaction of the companies to the lawsuit; Reaction of environmental groups.

Reports on the barring of protesters' bags at the Republican National Convention in New York City. Ruling out of the use of four-sided pens to contain the protesters.

Reports that relatives of Americans who were killed in terrorist attacks in Israel have sued Arab Bank, a leading bank in Jordan. Allegation that the bank aided terrorism by paying life insurance to relatives of suicide bombers.

Reports that Muhamed Sacirbey, a Bosnian diplomat who has been held in a Manhattan jail while fighting extradition in an embezzlement investigation, received a United State's magistrate's permission to post bail and be released. Background of the case; Worth of bond and real estate need to put up by Sacirbey before he can walk out of the Metropolitan Correctional Center.

Reports that the Bush administration had agreed to let lawyers for the detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, travel within days to meet their clients at the naval base. Authority given to lawyers to challenge their detentions; Set of petitions filed by a civil liberties in New York seeking early hearings on whether prisoners at Guantanamo have been lawfully detained; Efforts of the administration officials to explore ways to modify a planned annual review of the detentions.