Two Swedish journalists found guilty last week in an Ethiopian court of supporting terrorism and entering the country illegally were sentenced Tuesday to 11 years in prison. The journalists contended that they traveled into the country with the designated terrorist group Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) in order to gain access to an area restricted [...]

Preliminary hearings for the trial of alleged United State Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) spy, Iranian-American Amir Mirzaei Hekmati began in an Iranian Court Tuesday. Leading evidence against Hekmati includes a confession made on Iranian state television where he admits his mission was to infiltrate Iran’s intelligence systems by initially offering information to gain their trust [...]

Vice president of Iraq Tariq al-Hashemi said Sunday that he will not return to Baghdad to stand trial on charges of inciting violence in the country. Al-Hashemi denies the charges and has moved to the Kurdish region of northern Iraq to avoid appearing at trial, which he claims will be biased against him. Al-Hashemi’s statement [...]

The Amsterdam Appeals Court on Friday upheld a 1 million euro (USD $1.3 million) fine against oil trading company Trafigura for shipping hazardous waste to the Netherlands and illegally exporting the waste to the Ivory Coast in 2006. The company chartered a ship, the Probo Koala, to deliver and unload acidic and corrosive fuel refining [...]

A Chinese court on Sunday sentenced political activist Chen Xi to 10 years in prison for inciting subversion. The charges against Chen, 57, stemmed from more than 30 political essays that he had published online. He was detained late last month after he helped to campaign for independent candidates running in the upcoming elections. Chen [...]

The Department of Justice (DOJ) clarified its stance on online gambling in a memorandum opinion released Friday holding online non-sports related gambling that crosses state or international borders is not covered by the Wire Act of 1961 . The opinion dealt with the online, out-of-state sale of lottery tickets in Illinois and New York, but [...]

Bulgaria will ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities at the beginning of 2012, a member of the Bulgarian parliament announced on Sunday. According to Svetlana Angelova this ratification will result in several legislation amendments that will ensure that Bulgarian citizens with disabilities are treated as equal citizens and minimize discrimination against [...]

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast denied that Iran was actively involved in the 9/11 attacks after allegations in Thursday’s default judgment in Havlish v. Bin Laden . A Southern District of New York judge granted the plaintiffs’ motion for judgment against Iran, its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Hoseini-Kharmenei, former Iranian president Ali Akbar Hashemi [...]

A group of Attorneys General representing 24 US states and territories filed an amicus brief with the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Friday arguing that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) can require cigarette packages to display graphic images of the dangers of smoking. The AGs believe that the [...]

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon issued a statement on Friday, chastising both the government of President Bashar al-Assad and violent protesters regarding the continuous bloodshed in Syria. Approximately 44 people were killed Friday in two suicide car bomb attacks in Damascus. The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) has since linked the attacks to anti-government protests, while [...]