Jailed Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky , who is serving a nine-year prison sentence on fraud charges, officially announced his intention Wednesday to run for a Russian parliamentary seat . The election for Khodorkovsky's intended district in the State Duma , the lower house of the Russian parliament, will be held in December. The Central [...]

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The Cambodian Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected the appeal of a reporter found guilty of defaming Cambodia's foreign minister by suggesting he was involved in prisoners' deaths during the brutal Khmer Rouge reign. Kay Kimsong and two American reporters working for the Cambodian Daily were sued over two 2001 articles that accused Foreign Minister Hor [...]

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The ongoing battle against changes to rules that regulate US power plants continued Wednesday, after the Natural Resources Defense Council made public draft EPA regulations it insists will lead to dirtier power plants. The proposed standards would allow modernized power plants to operate longer hours, thus increasing the plants' allowed daily emissions. The Environmental Protection [...]

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The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) , Egypt's leading non-governmental rights group, has said that it does not believe the upcoming presidential elections will be fair due to the lack of neutral election monitors. EOHR and other rights groups are concerned about the composition of the election oversight committee, the committee's decision to bar [...]

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After hearing oral arguments Tuesday, US District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein expressed hesitation over ordering the release of 97 Department of Defense photos and videotapes depicting the abuse of prisoners held by US forces at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison . The request is part of a 2003 ACLU lawsuit in which the organization contends that [...]

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The Supreme Court of Nicaragua has ruled that former Nicaraguan President Arnoldo Aleman , who was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2003, can leave his home and move freely around Managua, Nicaragua's capital. Aleman was convicted on multiple charges, including money laundering, fraud, embezzlement and electoral crimes, during his 1997-2002 presidency, making him [...]

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