Turkey and Armenia signed a landmark accord Saturday in Zurich, Switzerland, which is expected to normalize relations between the two countries and open up borders. The accord, which actually consists of two protocols, contains provisions to establish a common border between the two countries, to establish an intergovernmental commission, and to set up sub-commissions which [...]

Chinese officials said Saturday that 21 people who were charged with arson, robbery, and murder after July's violent demonstrations in China's Xinjiang province, will be put on trial. A total of 108 people have so far been charged as a result of the riots in the city of Urumqi, located in the Uighur Autonomous Region. [...]

Members of the US Congress have removed an amendment to the 2010 Homeland Security Appropriations bill that sought to require additional construction of the US-Mexico border fence . The amendment, introduced by Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) , had been narrowly passed by the Senate in July. It called for the completion of 700 miles of [...]

Poland ratified the European Union (EU) reform pact known as the Lisbon Treaty on Saturday, becoming the 26th country to do so. Before signing the agreement, Polish President Lech Kaczynski expressed confidence that the treaty would be successful . European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso expressed approval at the signing ceremony, saying that the treaty's [...]

The US House of Representatives on Thursday passed a bill that amends the Military Commissions Act of 2006 to provide suspected terrorists with greater due process rights. The Military Commissions Act of 2009 was approved by a vote of 281-146 as part of the National Defense Authorization Act granting $681 billion in military appropriations for [...]

The US Deparment of Homeland Security (DHS) on Wednesday rescinded a rule that would have required employers to fire workers whose information did not match Social Security Administration (SSA) records. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), National Immigration Law Center (NILC) and the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) filed suit [...]

The US House of Representatives on Thursday approved a bill that extends the definition of federal hate crimes to include crimes motivated by gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability. The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act was passed 281-146 as part of the conference report authorizing $681 billion in military [...]

The accused leader of the so-called "Toronto 18" Zakaria Amara pleaded guilty Thursday to charges of planning to bomb three targets within the province of Ontario in 2006. Those targets included the Toronto Stock Exchange and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service office in Toronto, as well as a military base between Toronto and Ottawa. Amara [...]

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Friday that Kuwaiti Guantanamo Bay detainee Khaled Al-Mutairi has been returned to his home country . The US government alleged that Al-Mutairi had fought against American troops in Afghanistan, but in his almost eight years at the facility, no charges were ever filed. Al-Mutairi maintains that he had [...]

Jessica Montell : "In the recent session of the UN Human Rights Council, the US and Israel – each for their own, somewhat disingenuous reasons – argued that a peace process is incompatible with international scrutiny of war crimes in the Cast Lead operation, and that the former is to be preferred over the later. [...]