A proposed settlement in a class-action lawsuit brought by retailers and trade groups against Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. fails to protect merchants from abuse by credit card companies, a national retail group says.

The lawsuit, which dates to 2005, centers on the subject of swipe fees — charges banks collect every time a Visa or MasterCard is used to pay for a purchase.

The proposed settlement terms, initially disclosed in July, were revised and filed Friday with U.S. District Court in Brooklyn.

But changes to the deal failed to win over many of the retailers represented by the National Retail Federation.

In a statement Mallory Duncan, the trade group's general counsel, said that the proposed deal does virtually nothing to protect retailers or their customers, and it attempts to silence any objections for years to come.

"Retailers would rather take their chances in court than accept this one-sided swindle written by the card industry for the card industry," he added.

The National Retail Federation, the nation's largest retail trade group, is not a party to the lawsuit.

In a statement Friday, Visa called the settlement a fair and reasonable compromise.

Under the proposed settlement, stores will be allowed to charge customers more if they pay with a credit card. The pact covers only U.S. transactions.

A defense lawyer in Bahrain says a court has prolonged the appeal of
an imprisoned human rights activist by ordering another hearing next
month.

Nabeel Rajab is challenging his three-year prison sentence for
allegedly encouraging illegal protests and violence in the
strife-wracked Gulf nation, which is home to the U.S. Navy 5th Fleet.

He is among the most high-profile prisoners in Bahrain's crackdowns.
The country has been hit by near-daily unrest since February 2011,
when its Shiite majority began an uprising demanding a greater
political voice in the Sunni-ruled nation.

Attorney Mohammed al-Jishi says the court on Tuesday set Rajab's next
hearing for Nov. 8.

Also Tuesday, authorities detained another rights campaigner, Mohammed
al-Maskati, the president of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human
Rights.

U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts said Wednesday that
people shouldn't think the high court's justices make decisions in
terms of a liberal or conservative agenda.

Roberts told a crowd of nearly 4,800 people at Rice University in
Houston that many of the court's close votes have had nothing to do
with politics.

"We look at these cases and resolve them ... not in terms of a
particular liberal or conservative agenda," he said. "It's just easier
for reporters to say that justice is liberal and that justice is
conservative."

From reading some of the court's opinions, Roberts added, people may
think that justices are "at each other's throats." But he said all the
justices are "extremely close."

Roberts, taking a break from the high court's current term in
Washington, talked in general about his work leading the nation's
highest court. But he didn't discuss some of the court's more recent
high-profile cases — including voting to uphold much of President
Barack Obama's health care overhaul.

Roberts, who was appointed by President George W. Bush, made headlines
when he voted with the liberal justices in that 5-4 landmark decision.
After that ruling, Roberts became the focus of criticism from some of
the nation's leading conservatives while liberals applauded his
statesmanship.