Leading Tuesday's states brief, North Carolina lawmakers have selected Democrat June Atkinson as the State Superintendent of Public Schools , resolving the country's last undecided statewide election from 2004. After Atkinson beat Bill Fletcher in the 2004 election, the state Supreme Court ruled that at least 11,000 ballots cast outside of voters' home precincts were [...]
Jailed Russian oil tycoon, Mikhail Khodorkovsky , announced in a statement Tuesday that he will go on a hunger strike in support of his jailed business partner, Platon Lebedev. Lebedev was placed in an isolation cell after refusing to take his required daily walk. Khodorkovsky believes the Kremlin is attempting to get revenge on him [...]
President Bush urged Sunni Arabs on Tuesday to embrace the proposed Iraqi constitution in an effort to bring peace to a country on the verge of civil war. When asked about a Sunni negotiator's warning that the constitution may lead to a Sunni revolt, Bush replied that "There is more than one Sunni involved in [...]
Negotiations for the return of Saudi Arabian detainees from US custody at Guantanamo Bay have reached "an advanced stage", according to Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal speaking at a press conference in Jeddah Tuesday. There are currently 121 Saudis among the 505 detainees remaining at Gitmo. Five Saudi detainees were released earlier this month, [...]
Venezuelan Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel Tuesday called a televised statement by Christian Coalition founder Pat Robertson calling for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez "criminal" and said that Robertson's comments were "terrorist statements." Speaking Monday on the Christian Broadcast Network's The 700 Club , Robertson suggested that US agents assassinate Chavez in order [...]
In a meeting Tuesday with his lawyer and the judge investigating charges against him, ousted Iraqi president Saddam Hussein confirmed that he has reduced his legal team to one lawyer. As previously claimed in a statement by Hussein's family , Hussein said that he will now be represented by Iraqi Khalil Dulaimi, formerly a member [...]
A US Army interrogator pleaded guilty Tuesday to dereliction of duty and assault of 22-year old Afghan detainee Dilawar , who died in December 2002 at Bagram Control Point near Kabul. Spc. Glendale C. Walls admitted to pushing Dilawar during interrogation and watching former Sgt. Selena M. Salcedo and former Spc. Joshua R. Claus abuse [...]
The Kenyan government released the final draft of the country's new constitution Tuesday, amidst protests from those upset with President Mwai Kibaki for his failure to limit any of his over-reaching presidential powers in the new constitution. The Kenyan Electoral Commission will set a national referendum for November in which the 197 page draft will [...]
The Indonesian government and separatist rebels in the province of Aceh are disputing the jurisdiction of the human rights tribunal to be established under their newly signed peace accord . The Indonesian government believes the tribunal is being created for "future needs, not for the past," and does not want the court to try cases [...]
Lawyers for Moroccan-born Mounir al-Motassadeq , who was convicted by a German court last week for his involvement with the 9/11 attacks, said Tuesday that they have appealed the conviction. Motassadeq's lawyers claim the evidence linking him to the attacks was circumstantial and that he was not involved in the Hamburg-based terror cell of hijacker [...]
