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.

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.

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.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted new privacy rules for telephone and wireless companies on Tuesday aimed at strengthening safeguards against pretexting, the disclosure of personal telephone records to unauthorized individuals. The new rules include carrier authentication requirements, additional notice requirements, and annual certification requirements. Commenting on the new rules, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said in a prepared statement that the regulations significantly strengthen existing safeguards by requiring express consent before a carrier can give a customer’s phone records to other parties for marketing purposes.

In January, President Bush signed into law new federal legislation to protect telephone consumers from pretexting. The Telephone Records and Privacy Protection Act of 2006 was approved by the US Senate in December in response to the Hewlett-Packard corporate spying scandal that broke last summer.