An Afghan journalist working as a cameraman for Canadian television network CTV has been designated as an enemy combatant , a US military spokesperson said Wednesday. US officials alleged that Jawed Ahmad had Taliban phone numbers and videos in his possession when he was detained by coalition forces on October 26 at a NATO airbase [...]
Sudanese President Omar El Bashir Wednesday addressed a massive rally in Khartoum protesting the reprinting of a cartoon depiction of the Muslim prophet Muhammad by Jyllands-Poste earlier this month, saying that he would ban all Danish citizens from entering the country and calling on Muslims to boycott Danish products. It was unclear if Sudan would [...]
Neil Hicks : "Detaining political opponents is a control mechanism long favored by the Egyptian government. The continuing incarceration of Ayman Nour, apparently for having the temerity to challenge Hosni Mubarak in the 2005 presidential election is a case in point. Rounding up supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest opposition political movement, prior to [...]
The head of the US Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday refused to say whether the White House had pressured the agency to reject California's request for a waiver that would have allowed the state to impose stricter greenhouse gas emissions standards on cars and light trucks. During testimony before the Senate Committee on the Environment [...]
Iraq's Presidency Council Wednesday rejected a draft provincial elections law that detailed the relationship between Iraq's central and local governments, sending the legislation back to the Iraqi Council of Representatives . The draft law was part of a package of legislation approved by the Council of Representatives earlier this month that also included the 2008 [...]
The US Supreme Court Wednesday heard oral arguments in Exxon Shipping Co. v. Baker 07-219, where the Court considered the punitive damages to be paid by Exxon Mobil for the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill . Several justices indicated they may be willing to reduce the punitive damages award, which is larger than the total [...]
Turkey's main pro-secular opposition party appealed to the nation's Constitutional Court Wednesday to overturn recently approved amendments to the country's constitution easing a ban on Islamic headscarves in universities. The Republican People's Party says the ban is necessary to protect the separation of religion and state. The Grand National Assembly of Turkey earlier this month [...]
A Spanish National Court judge Wednesday acquitted 20 suspected terrorists of the most serious charges related to an alleged plot to bomb the National Court in Madrid but convicted them on lesser charges . The court convicted 18 of the 20 suspects of belonging to a terrorist organization and two of conspiring in the bomb [...]
The Pakistan People's Party (PPP), which along with former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League (PML(N)) will form Pakistan's new coalition government, vowed Tuesday to make Pakistan's judiciary fully independent. Asif Zardari , the new leader of the PPP and widower of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto , promised to strengthen the judiciary [...]
Mexico's lower house of Congress, the Chamber of Deputies , on Tuesday passed a bill on Tuesday authorizing a variety of judicial reforms . With a vote of 462-6 , legislators overwhelmingly approved a bill which provides for public and oral trials, guarantees the presumption of innocence and allows for the use of recorded telephone [...]
