<!-- /dateline -->An important story from the AP.

RICHMOND, Va. — The U.S. government cannot use new anti-terrorism laws to keep American residents locked up indefinitely without charging them, a divided federal appeals court said Monday.

The ruling was a harsh rebuke of one of the central tools President George W. Bush's administration believes it has to combat terror.

“To sanction such presidential authority to order the military to seize and indefinitely detain civilians, even if the President calls them ‘enemy combatants,' would have disastrous consequences for the constitution — and the country,” the court panel said.