Iran announced on Monday that it would resume uranium enrichment, effectively ending recent negotiations with the European Union . The International Atomic Energy Agency had urged Iran to continue with the negotiation process , but Iran's only concession was a two-day delay in restarting the program to allow inspectors to observe the dismantling of UN [...]

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The UN Human Rights Committee has criticized Yemen for not incorporating many of its 2002 recommendations for civil and political rights in the country. Some major concerns of the Committee were judicial independence, inequality for women, domestic violence, 'honor killings', the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) , and alleged serious rights violations used to [...]

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Former rebel leader John Garang , who eventually made peace and joined the Sudanese government as a vice-president, died over the weekend in a helicopter crash, sparking riots and threatening to destabilize the region. Officials in Sudan said Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement leader Garang and 13 others died after the presidential helicopter he was traveling [...]

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The Supreme Court of Pakistan Monday took up a government challenge to a controversial morals law passed by its North-West Frontier Province on the border with Afghanistan that provides for Taliban-style enforcement of Islamic law. President General Pervez Musharraf asked the court earlier this month to rule on the constitutionality of the law that calls [...]

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Indonesia Monday announced the membership of a 10-member Truth and Friendship Commission formed to investigate the 1999 violence in East Timor that left around 1,400 dead. Half will hail from Indonesia with the other half coming from East Timor. The two nations announced the panel earlier month while Indonesia rejected calls for international oversight . [...]

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