The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Friday ordered the release on bail of jailed opposition leader Javed Hashmi pending his appeal of his 2004 conviction for allegedly inciting mutiny in the armed forces, forgery and defamation by circulating an unsigned letter allegedly written by army officers opposed to President Pervez Musharraf and Pakistani military operations [...]
Australian Prime Minister John Howard Friday rejected calls for an independent judicial inquiry into the Australian government's handling of the terror case against Dr. Mohammad Haneef , calling it a political "stunt" by opposition Labour Party leader Kevin Rupp . During an interview with Sky News, Howard also welcomed the High Court of Australia's Thursday [...]
Chilean authorities on Thursday announced the capture of former Gen. Raul Iturriaga Neumann, a former high-ranking intelligence official with the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA) during the reign of former dictator Augusto Pinochet . Neumann, who has been a fugitive since June, has been convicted for the 1974 disappearance of political activist Luis Dagoberto San Martin [...]
China is increasing its control over human rights activists and other political dissidents ahead of the Beijing 2008 Olympics , Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported Thursday. HRW says that leaders in the Communist Party of China (CPC), fearing potential embarrassment brought on by activists highlighting political and social problems, have also attempted to silence independent [...]
A senior Thai Justice Ministry official said Thursday that Thailand will renew a probe into the anti-drug campaign of former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra during which close to 2,500 people were killed. Thaksin's war on drugs began in 2003 and gained great support from rural voters. The investigation will be headed by former Thai [...]
A military court-martial jury Thursday found US Marine Corps Sgt. Lawrence G. Hutchins III guilty of murder for his role in the April 2006 kidnapping and murder of an Iraqi civilian in Hamdania . Hashim Ibrahim Awad was removed from his residence and killed. His body was subsequently arranged with a shovel and firearm to [...]
The US Senate voted 83-14 in favor of a new ethics bill that will require congressmen and other officials to make public additional information about money involving personal projects and lobbies. The legislation also bans gifts from lobbies to lawmakers, and requires former senators and House-members to wait two years and one year respectively before [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held Thursday that insurance policies held by many victims of Hurricane Katrina did not cover flood damage caused by the storm. Writing for a three-judge panel, Judge Carolyn King said that flood damage was excluded from coverage provided by a range of defendant companies and that [...]
Chinese Communist Party discipline commission spokesman Gan Yisheng said Thursday that China's use of capital punishment in political and economic corruption cases is appropriate and effective. Gan justified the punishment saying that it had "been endorsed by the Chinese people and also recognized by the international community." In July, China executed former State Food and [...]
The Venezuelan Supreme Tribunal of Justice Wednesday suspended an order issued by the government's telecommunication commission requiring Radio Caracas Television (RCTV) to register as a "national audiovisual production service" or face shutdown after agreeing to hear a case on whether cable and satellite television channels are obligated to transmit government-mandated content. The Chamber of Subscription [...]
