Myanmar's ruling junta Friday urged the country's citizens to approve the military-backed draft constitution in an upcoming Saturday national referendum that the government has refused to reschedule despite a devastating cyclone last week that may have left up to 100,000 people dead . The United Nations estimates that another 1.5 million people have been "severely [...]
The Bolivian National Congress voted Thursday to hold a national referendum on President Evo Morales Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera, and nine regional governors within the next 90 days. The officials must receive more than 53.74% percent of the vote to keep their positions. Morales is the first indigenous president of Bolivia, and began the [...]
The world's five major nuclear powers – Britain, China, France, Russia, and the US – cited Iran's uranium enrichment program as a major threat to the goals of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in a joint statement issued Thursday at the end of a two-week meeting of 106 NPT member nations. The five urged Iran, [...]
The Legislative Assembly of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) passed a law Friday that will enable same-sex domestic partners to register their relationships with the government. A part of the legislation which would have legalized same-sex civil union ceremonies was removed prior to passage because the Australian federal government threatened to veto the Civil Partnerships [...]
The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) announced Thursday that Vidoje Blagojevic has requested a new trial. Blagojevic, former commander of the Bratunac Brigade of the Bosnian Serb Army, claims that he had little access to his defense counsel and was prevented from testifying on his own behalf. AP has more. The ICTY [...]
US military judge Col. Peter Brownback again refused to set a trial date for Canadian-born Omar Khadr at a pre-trial hearing Thursday, threatening to suspend military commission proceedings against the Guantanamo detainee until the government submits daily records of Khadr's detention. Khadr's lawyers claim the government is stalling the prosecution under the Military Commissions Act [...]
A US federal judge Thursday directed the CIA to produce a 2002 US Department of Justice memo that the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) claims authorized the agency to use specific torture techniques – including waterboarding – on US detainees held abroad. The memo prepared by the DOJ Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) has been [...]
An Egyptian court Thursday ordered the editor of independent newspaper al-Badeel to pay a $2,000 fine for publishing an article about labor disputes in the state-owned Middle East News Agency . Mohammed Sayyed was convicted of libel, and also ordered to pay $1,000 in compensation to the chief of the news agency. AP has more. [...]
The Australian Defence Force is investigating claims by four Taliban members detained following the death of an Australian soldier in Afghanistan that they were mistreated during their time in custody, Australian media reported Thursday. The allegations were reported by a senior Afghan commander who spoke of "mistreatment" of prisoners by Australian troops. ABC Australia has [...]
Vietnam will prosecute two anti-Communist activists on "terrorism" charges for distributing literature critical of the government, a government spokesperson said Thursday. The men are members of US-based rights group Viet Tan , which has denied that it endorses anti-government violence and has said that the men were calling for peaceful democratic change. Reuters has more. [...]
