The US military released 500 prisoners Tuesday from the Abu Ghraib prison in observance of Eid ul-Fitr , the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan . The 500 prisoners, like the 1,000 prisoners released at the beginning of October at the start of Ramadan, were given a copy of the Koran, $25 and [...]

The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia on Tuesday transferred its case against Rahim Ademi and Mirko Norac to Croatia, marking the first time a case involving persons already indicted by the ICTY has been transferred to the country. In 2004, ICTY prosecutors charged Ademi and Norac, both former officials in the Croatian army, [...]

The Syrian government on Tuesday sharply criticized a UN resolution ordering Syria to fully cooperate with the international investigation into the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri or face serious diplomatic consequences. In Tuesday's response, the Syrian government characterized the UN resolution as politically motivated. A member of Syria's foreign ministry further asserted [...]

A group of asylum-seekers originating from Asia and Africa has begun a hunger strike in a detention camp in southwest Morocco in an attempt to gain refugee status from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) , the Moroccan Association of Human Rights said in a statement late Monday. Of the 247 illegal immigrants held [...]

Former Canadian prime minister Jean Chrétien and his chief of staff, Jean Pelletier, must be held accountable for the flawed running of the federal sponsorship program from 1994 to 2003, said the first report on the scandal from Justice John Gomery, released in Ottawa Tuesday. Gomery also chided several others for their parts in the [...]

The President's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform , created by President Bush to find simpler and more economically productive methods of taxation, has recommended two different tax plans, both of which would change the way all individuals and businesses pay and file their taxes. In its final report released Tuesday, the panel proposed that [...]

In a document to be released later this month, the European Commission will set forth nearly 150 requirements, all of which must met by Turkey within two years, in order for the Mediterranean nation to be accepted into the European Union , the Financial Times reported Tuesday. Chief among the document's requirements will be a [...]

Joshua Colangelo-Bryan an American lawyer for Guantanamo Bay detainee Jumah Dossari , recently became the first outsider to witness an attempted suicide at the military prison. Human rights advocates say Dossari timed the attempt so that it would be witnessed by someone other than a prison guard as a cry for help meant to reach [...]

The leading Islamic party in Tajikistan has criticized the country's recent ban on Islamic headscarves in secular schools . The Islamic Renaissance Party (IRP) said the ban was unconstitutional and against the interests of a majority of the country, which is more than 90% Muslim. Education minister Abdudjabor Rakhmonov announced the ban on October 19, [...]

The Michigan Court of Appeals Monday complied with a request by state Attorney General Mike Cox seeking to delay a lower court ruling which allowed public-sector employers to offer domestic partner benefits to employees. In September, a County Circuit judge ruled that providing the benefits did not conflict with a state constitutional amendment defining marriage [...]