Nepalese Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and Maoist rebel leader Prachanda signed a peace agreement Tuesday formally ending the decade-long Maoist guerilla insurgency against the government that left over 13,000 people dead. The deal clears the way for Maoists to serve in the country's interim parliament and in the new interim government by December 1. [...]

The Supreme Court of the Democratic Republic of Congo in Kinhasa was set on fire Tuesday by protestors supporting Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba , who on Saturday filed a challenge to the results of last month's presidential run-off election , which he officially lost to incumbent Joseph Kabila by 16 percentage points. Bemba's supporters , [...]

A Fiji High Court judge Tuesday declared a mistrial in the case against former Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka , charged with inciting a military mutiny . Although High Court Justice Gerard Winter did not disclose his reason for declaring a mistrial, local media speculated that the prosecution had failed to fully disclose evidence. The [...]

The tax fraud trial of former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and British lawyer David Mills was adjourned Tuesday after the defense applied to have one of the judges taken off the case. Judge Edoardo d'Avossa was involved in other Berlusconi trials, including the "Medusa" case, which resulted in the former prime minister's acquittal on [...]

A judge in the Orleans Parish Criminal District Court on Monday urged prosecutors to either charge hospital workers accused of killing four patients in the wake of Hurricane Katrina or drop the case. Judge Calvin Johnson said he is concerned that no formal indictment has been brought against the workers and said that the case [...]

The Supreme Court of Israel ruled 6-1 Tuesday that same-sex marriages ordained abroad must be recognized by the state . The ruling does not allow for same-sex civil marriages to occur in Israel but mandates that the government recognize the unions if performed in other nations. While gay rights activists are encouraged by the decision, [...]

The California Supreme Court ruled Monday that the 1996 Communications Decency Act protects online users, including bloggers, who republish defamatory statements written by others from liability. Citing First Amendment concerns, the court said in its opinion that plaintiffs claiming defamation can bring suit only against the "original source of the statement." The court said holding [...]

Israel's use of force during its 33-day standoff with Hezbollah in Lebanon was "excessive, indiscriminate and disproportionate" in "flagrant violation" of international law, according to a report issued Tuesday by the UN Human Rights Council . The report is the product of a commission of inquiry sent to the Middle East to investigate the consequences [...]

A draft UN General Assembly resolution condemning human rights violations in Uzbekistan has been blocked in the General Assembly's Third Committee by a group of mainly developing nations that claim such resolutions are politically motivated. The resolution would have expressed "grave concern" at Uzbekistan's use of force to quell a May 2005 uprising in Andijan, [...]

Lance Cpl. Robert B. Pennington, one of several US Marines facing court-martial in connection with the kidnapping and murder of an Iraqi civilian in Hamdania , told a military court Monday that agents from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service told him not to ask for a defense lawyer and threatened him with the death penalty [...]