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Carol J. Williams, Bureau Chief
Born in Rhode Island, Carol J. Williams graduated from high school on Guam, then earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Washington. During a decade with the Associated Press, she served writing and editing stints in Seattle, New York, Moscow and Bonn, before joining the Times foreign staff in 1990. She has been Times bureau chief in Budapest, Vienna, Moscow, Berlin and the Caribbean, and has participated in covering the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq as well as terrorism-related stories throughout the world. She has won Overseas Press Club awards in 1988, 1991, 1997 and 2006, two Sigma Delta Chi citations and was a 1993 Pulitzer finalist for international reporting. EMAILThe federal ruling may open the door to thousands of lawsuits from people whose rights may have been violated by San Francisco's former policy of strip-searching all detainees.
The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rules that online sellers who don't specifically aim to sell to Californians are not subject to state law.
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals challenges a provision in the 22-year sentence imposed on Ahmed Ressam, who had planned to set off explosives at Los Angeles International Airport.
The immigration ruling in effect blocks his extradition to Venezuela to face terrorism charges in the bombing of a plane.
With credit for time already served, Osama bin Laden's driver should complete his sentence by January.
In closing arguments at Guantanamo Bay, a defense attorney says secret testimony showed that Salim Ahmed Hamdan had offered to help U.S. forces, but that the opportunity had been 'squandered.'
NEWS ANALYSIS
The first person to be tried in a military tribunal at Guantanamo will remain incarcerated no matter the verdict. Concerns remain about the procedure's fairness.
The chronicler of Soviet repression wrote 'One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich' and 'The Gulag Archipelago.'
Max-security Camp 6 will be modified to let compliant detainees interact by eating and exercising together.
Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the self-declared Sept. 11 mastermind, says in written testimony that Osama bin Laden's driver 'was not fit to plan or execute' Al Qaeda attacks. The defense rests.
REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
COLUMN ONE
With the breathtaking moments of history come many perils -- all manner of diseases, nights on the floor in remote areas without indoor plumbing. Not to mention the bullets and missiles dodged.
Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a former driver for Osama bin Laden, seems discomfited by a video taken shortly after his 2001 capture. He later returns to court and apologizes to the judge.
Prosecution and defense lawyers painted broadly conflicting pictures of Salim Ahmed Hamdan on Tuesday, with the government vowing to prove that the former driver for Osama bin Laden remained a trusted aide and confidant through Al Qaeda's most heinous crimes.
A military judge says some statements by Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a driver for Osama bin Laden, were made in 'highly coercive' settings. It could set a standard for other cases.
A federal judge rejects defense appeals to postpone the proceedings -- slated to start Monday -- against Osama bin Laden's former driver, Salim Ahmed Hamdan.
A crackdown on smugglers bringing migrants to Florida shores has caused a shift westward of the illegal traffic.
In a series of reforms aimed at improving self-sufficiency and curbing costly food imports, Raul Castro has the idle lands around cities planted.
It is the state's first execution since a botched lethal injection 18 months ago prompted claims that the method constituted cruel and unusual punishment.
Robberies have increased as the number of boats sailing the lush islands grows, and with it the lure of the sailors' valuables.
Despite an official go-ahead, people are no more able to buy cellphones and other gadgets than before. But hope for change is in the air.
Many in a newer generation of exiles favor loosening travel restrictions and defrosting diplomatic relations.
In 2006, celebrations greeted word that the leader was ill. Now people aren't sure his resignation will change much in Cuba.
All the presidential candidates but one (Mike who?) skip the event because of the state's rift with the national party over primary scheduling.
Hints of anger surface as reform appears unlikely. Unrest or mass migration may be coming, analysts say.
WAR WITH IRAQ / SUPPORTING THE PILOTS
On carriers such as the Lincoln, pilots get the attention, but it is the sailors toiling below deck who keep the war machine going.
Fidel Castro's brother Raul is named president, and a party elder fills the No. 2 post. Sweeping changes now appear unlikely.
Even longtime residents are no longer able to pay the Conch Republic's soaring rents and mortgages. Their departure hurts the newer businesses catering to the wealthy.
THE NATION
A departing Max Mayfield is convinced that the Southeast is inviting disaster.
CARIBBEAN | ARUBA
Two years after the U.S. woman disappeared, islanders say the accusatory free-for-all was an end of innocence for them.
Dieuseul Lundi's native land is an economic shambles, sustained by emigre donors like him. With earnings from two jobs in Miami he supports dozens of friends and relatives, paying for food, funerals a
Iraq's new government took legal custody of jailed former President Saddam Hussein today and moved to reinstate the death penalty after more than a year's suspension in preparation for today's arraignment of 12 past regime figures on charge of genocide and war crimes.
Suspect: Authorities accuse man of planning violent acts and say he is active in an
extremist group known to have ties to Bin Laden.
UPDATE
"Ladies and gentlemen, we got him," U.S. administrator L. Paul Bremer announces. "The tyrant is a prisoner."
The Marines have landed. There is activity at the U.S. Embassy here
for the first time in a dozen years. The U.N. envoy for Afghanistan has deemed
preparations for a Dec. 22 hand-over of governing power on track. Even the national
currency, the afghani, which a day earlier sold for 36,500 to the dollar, took an 8% leap
of faith Tuesday that this war-ravaged country is on the cusp of peace and recovery.
With no home, no husband and no prospect of a job, Shalla is sure she
is due a share of the food flowing from an outside world finally ready to feed the hungry
maw that is Afghanistan.
What passes for the law in this military outpost just north
of Kabul is a ragtag band of teenagers whose authority emanates from the Kalashnikov
rifles they wield with more bravado than skill.
Summit: In a sudden shift, the Northern Alliance's political faction says it can accept
foreign peacekeepers and a prominent role for the former Afghan king.
U.S. Embassy: In Afghan capital, 13 years after Old Glory was lowered, it flies again as a
war-torn country rejoins the global scene.
Summit: As U.N. talks in Germany enter the final stage, organizers worry that Northern
Alliance leader in Kabul is at odds with his own delegates.
Celebration: First day of Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday is marked by kite flying, music and
other simple joys banned by the Taliban.
Afghanistan: Soccer games at site of Taliban executions are a step toward normality, but
they also point up how far behind the world the nation has fallen.
Among the 22,000 Afghans taking refuge in this city from the political catastrophes that have long afflicted their homeland, there was much anger Monday over the U.S. airstrikes against a person, Osama bin Laden, and a problem, the Taliban, the exiles
see as American creations.