AP is reporting that United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has fired suspended UN staffer Joseph Stephanides for his role in the UN oil-for-food scandal . 1:25 PM ET – Stephanides is the first UN staffer to be fired in the scandal. An AP story is now available here.
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced on Tuesday that Iraq has officially asked for UN help in drafting a new permanent constitution . Annan acknowledged a letter from Hajim N. Al-Hasani, president of Iraq's Transitional National Assembly, asking for assistance to ensure that a new constitution is in place by August 15, leading to elections [...]
Protestors clashed with 200 members of rival groups in front of the Kyrgyzstan Supreme Court on Wednesday, throwing sticks and flogging each other with horse-whips. The instigators, who arrived in buses from the North, stormed the court to evict protestors from the South, who had occupied the Supreme Court building on April 22, following a [...]
Two US citizens accused of conspiring to support al-Qaida were denied bail on Tuesday in separate federal courts. Tarik Shah of New York and Dr. Rafik Abdus of Florida were both arrested in a government sting operation Friday. Shah allegedly promised to train terrorists in hand-to-hand combat while Abdus is believed to have agreed to [...]
After assurances from her lawyer that she would attend a scheduled September trial in Serbia on abuse of power charges, Serbian authorities have cancelled an international arrest warrant for Mirjana Markovic , the wife of former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic . Markovic is said to have fled to Russia in 2003 to avoid the charges. [...]
Citizens of the Netherlands went to the polls Wednesday to vote on whether to accept the proposed European Constitution . Recent opinion surveys say that nearly 60% of Dutch voters plan to reject the document, citing concerns such as discontent with the Dutch government, rising prices following introduction of the Euro, fears of being engulfed [...]
Florida Governor Jeb Bush Tuesday signed into law House Bill 1041 , providing for increased state oversight of clinics that provide second-trimester abortions. Bush said the law is about increasing safety standards and does not affect constitutionally protected abortion rights. Opponents say its true goal is to close clinics . Read the Bush press release [...]
Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, sentenced Tuesday to nine years in jail for fraud and tax evasion, will appeal the verdict but his lawyers say they do not expect the appeal to be considered until September at the earliest. President Bush said on Tuesday that the US is continuing to monitor the case amidst concerns [...]
California Attorney General Bill Lockyer on Tuesday formally appealed the March California Superior Court ruling that the state's ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. That order was stayed in anticipation of this appeal. Reuters has more.
Chinese authorities have detained Zhu Jiuhi, a Beijing lawyer and activist for the development of rule of law after he attempted to file a landmark civil suit against the provincial government and lower-level governments for confiscating private investors' oil wells estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars. No official charges have been brought [...]
