British troops may have tortured and executed up to 20 Iraqi civilians after a 2004 clash between insurgents and a British convoy in Majar al Kabir , according to evidence released Friday by the lawyers of five Iraqi men detained after the battle. The evidence includes testimony from several witnesses, death certificates, and video footage [...]
An Iranian official with the country's Supreme National Security Council said Saturday that a potential UN Security Council resolution imposing new sanctions on Iran in connection with its nuclear activities would be "legally and technically baseless," according to the Iranian Student News Agency (ISNA). On Friday, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported that while [...]
US Attorney General Michael Mukasey and US Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell said Friday that some telecommunications companies are circumventing wiretapping orders after the temporary Protect America Act expired last week without an agreement in Congress on replacement legislation, causing intelligence agencies to lose vital information. In a letter to the House Intelligence Committee, [...]
Japanese Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba urged the US Friday to adopt preventive measures to stop further crimes by American troops in Japan. The warning comes after a US Marine was arrested last week for allegedly raping a 14 year-old girl on Okinawa, an incident that sparked outrage among the public and Japanese media. At a [...]
United States v James Tobin, US District Court for the District of New Hampshire, February 21, 2008 . Read the full text of the opinion. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.
The Supreme Court of Belarus Friday ordered a former newspaper editor who had been had been sentenced to three years in prison for reprinting cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad to be released, his lawyer said. Alexander Sdvizhkov, former deputy editor of Belarus newspaper Zhoda, had been convicted of inciting religious hatred, but was released Friday [...]
US Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ) has been indicted on charges that include extortion, money laundering, and wire fraud in connection with a complex land scheme, according to an indictment released Friday at a Phoenix press conference . If convicted, Renzi could face thousands in fines and prison time. Prosecutors allege Renzi used his position on [...]
The US government has granted final approval to the first stretch of "virtual fencing" , which will run for 28 miles along the US-Mexico border southwest of Tucson, Arizona, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Friday at a briefing on Immigration Enforcement and Border Security Efforts. The virtual fence, part of the Secure Border Initiative [...]
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has launched an internal probe into whether top department officials improperly approved the CIA's use of waterboarding , according to documents released Friday. The DOJ Office of Professional Responsibility investigation, which a DOJ spokesperson said has been ongoing for years, is part of a larger inquiry into the Bybee [...]
Turkish President Abdullah Gul Friday approved amendments to the country's constitution that will ease a current ban on Islamic headscarves in universities. Gul's office said in a statement that the amendments did not conflict with the country's "basic principles." Opposition parties have said they will appeal to the nation's Constitutional Court , and many critics [...]
