Zimbabwe’s high court Monday struck out evidence from a key witness in the trial of Zimbabwe Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party treasurer and deputy agriculture minister-nominee Roy Bennett . Peter Michael Hitschmann was called as the attorney general’s main witness against Bennett, but alleged in court that security officials tortured him while in custody [...]

The US Supreme Court on Monday ruled 5-3 in Hemi Group, LLC v. City of New York that the city government lacks standing under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) to bring a suit against Hemi Group, which operates websites offering cigarettes for sale "tax-free." The US Court of Appeals for the Second [...]

Guatemalan authorities have issued an arrest warrant for former president Alfonso Portillo , after the US government requested his extradition on Sunday to face charges of money laundering . Portillo, who was president of Guatemala from 2000 to 2004, has been charged in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York on [...]

A Myanmar government official has said that pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi will be released from house arrest in November when her sentence is scheduled to end. Witnesses reported that Home Minister Major General Maung Oo made the statement Thursday during a speech to several hundred local officials in the town of Kyaukpadaung. The [...]

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi could face a third corruption trial based on new information that recently surfaced, according to Saturday reports. Berlusconi, who is already facing two separate trials on charges of corruption and bribery, is accused of embezzlement and tax fraud related to his television company Mediaset , though his lawyers have dismissed [...]

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Saturday called for a new age of human rights and safety in the embattled Caucasus region of Russia, where the killings of journalists and human rights activists have become increasingly common. The announcement comes in tandem with the appointment of Aleksandr Khloponin as new presidential envoy to the area. [...]

US Vice President Joe Biden announced Saturday that the US will appeal a ruling dismissing voluntary manslaughter and weapons charges against five Blackwater guards who were indicted for their involvement in the deaths of 17 Iraqi civilians in September 2007. Biden made the announcement during a visit to Baghdad where he met with Iraqi political [...]

A federal judge on Friday reduced a $1.92 million jury verdict against a Minnesota woman who was found to have violated music copyrights to about $54,000. Chief Judge Michael Davis of the US District Court for the District Court of Minnesota called the damages amount "monstrous and shocking" and said the facts of the case [...]

A German court in Nuremberg has issued an arrest warrant for Argentina's former de-facto president Jorge Videla for helping to cover up the death of a German citizen in 1978, at the height of the "Dirty War" . The Bayern prosecutor reopened the case in December and requested an order of arrest for Videla after [...]

The Hawaii Senate voted 18-7 Friday in favor of legislation allowing same-sex civil unions . The act would confer upon homosexual and heterosexual couples rights and benefits equal to those afforded married couples in the state. Originally introduced last year, public notice requirements forced a vote on the matter to be delayed after an amendment [...]