Czech Republic President Vaclav Klaus said Friday that he will raise no further objections to the European Union (EU) reform treaty, known as the Treaty of Lisbon , after EU leaders reached an agreement on an opt-out clause. At European Council summit in Brussels, the Council agreed Thursday to add a protocol to the Lisbon [...]

An appeals court in China's Xinjiang province on Friday affirmed the convictions of 21 people found guilty of murder and other crimes such as arson and robbery for their roles in July's violent demonstrations in Urumqi that left about 200 people dead and many more injured. The Higher People's Court of Xinjiang upheld the sentences [...]

US President Barack Obama signed an executive order Wednesday giving the Intelligence Oversight Board (IOB) the authority to report suspected violations of federal law related to intelligence gathering to the US attorney general. The order amends an executive order signed by former president George W. Bush last February, which allowed the IOB to report suspected [...]

The Venezuelan National Assembly on Thursday gave final approval to a bill banning violent toys and video games. Those who violate the law could face fines and prison terms of three to five years, as well as the confiscation of merchandise. The law stipulates that Venezuelan government will use funds from fines towards educational programs, [...]

Judge Xaviere Simeoni on Friday ordered former French president Jacques Chirac to stand trial on charges of embezzlement and misuse of public funds. While serving as mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995, Chirac allegedly financed the Rally for the Republic (RPR), now renamed as the Union for a Popular Movement , by illegally establishing [...]

Veronika Szente Goldston : "With its decision to lift the remaining sanctions against Uzbekistan despite Tashkent's atrocious rights record, the EU has effectively abandoned any credible effort to achieve human rights improvements through its Uzbekistan policy. The EU had set clear criteria for lifting the sanctions, which the Uzbek government has not met. Moreover, in [...]

Suspected al Qaeda sleeper agent Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri was sentenced Thursday to eight-and-a-half years in prison for conspiracy to help the terrorist organization, including researching potential targets within the US for chemical weapon attacks. The sentence was less than the 15 years sought by federal prosecutors. In handing down the lesser sentence, District Judge [...]

The Arizona Supreme Court ruled Thursday that data embedded in electronic versions of public records is part of the public record, and thus accessible through a records request. The court ruled in favor of David Lake, a sergeant with the Phoenix police department, who had requested access to public records regarding his job performance. When [...]

The interim government of Honduras and ousted president Manuel Zelaya reached an agreement Thursday allowing Zelaya to return to power conditioned on Supreme Court approval with a subsequent affirmative vote from the Honduran legislature. According to an interim government press release touting the agreement as the product of the Guaymuras Dialogue, a truth commission will [...]

Outstanding arrest warrants are the "biggest obstacle" facing the International Criminal Court (ICC) , President Sang-Hyun Song told the UN General Assembly Thursday. In particular, Song discussed the case of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir . The ICC issued an arrest warrant for al-Bashir in March for crimes against humanity, but he has not yet been [...]