An opposition leader in Belarus said Tuesday that groups opposing the rule of President Alexander Lukashenko are proposing an international public trial to prosecute the regime's violations of Belarusian laws and the country's constitution . Anatoly Lebedko said the court would review Lukashenko's 1996 dismissal of the parliament that planned to impeach him and the [...]

Pro-democracy protests continued in Nepal on Tuesday, with government employees being arrested for the first time and international pressure from India and several human rights groups being put on King Gyanendra to resolve the situation. An estimated 20,000 protesters filled the streets of the small western town of Nepalgunj, shouting slogans against King Gyanendra and [...]

A federal judge on Monday ruled that North Carolina officials could use a brain-wave monitor rather than have a doctor present to ensure a prisoner was not conscious during an execution by lethal injection. Lawyers for the inmate, Willie Brown Jr. , said they would appeal the ruling, which they said could allow a violation [...]

The Alabama Legislature on Monday approved a bill that would pardon Rosa Parks , the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights activists convicted of violating Jim Crow laws in the state. Under an amendment to the bill, the arrest records of Parks and others would remain at museums where they are [...]

The Indiana Democratic Party on Monday said it would appeal a federal judge's ruling that a state law requiring voters to show photo identification is valid. Party Chairman Daniel Parker said the ruling "glossed over" details and questioned whether Public Law 109-2005 , passed last year by a Republican-controlled legislature, would prevent some voters from [...]

A New York judge on Monday ordered Transport Union Workers Local 100 to pay $2.5 million in fines for illegally going on strike in December, bringing New York City's public transport system to a halt. Judge Theodore Jones also suspended automatic dues collection by the union. Jones imposed a $1 million-per-day fine on the union [...]

Leading Tuesday's international brief, last minute opposition from the UN representatives of both Russia and China has blocked the imposition of proposed UN sanctions against four Sudanese officials accused of intentionally delaying the peace process in the war-torn Darfur region . Russian Ambassador to the UN Andrey Denisov told reporters that Russia felt that the [...]

The UK government said Monday that it plans to intervene in a case brought by a group of British citizens against Saudi Arabian officials who allegedly tortured them to argue that foreign officials who torture British citizens abroad should not be subject to civil lawsuits in British courts. The government is joining a Saudi Arabian [...]

A city court in Siberia where former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky is currently in prison ruled Tuesday that his 5-day transfer to solitary confinement earlier this year was unlawful. Khodorkovsky was temporarily held in an isolated cell after prison officials found Justice Ministry documents on prisoners' rights in his cell. The court in Krasnokamensk ruled [...]

Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue signed into law Monday a bill cracking down on illegal immigration that will prevent illegal aliens from receiving many of the state's services paid for by taxpayers. The Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act implements new requirements for contractors doing work for the state who will now have to verify the [...]