Chinese lawmakers on Monday reviewed a revised version of a state secrets law which aims to update existing legislation to address Internet leaks of classified data. A draft of the amended Law on Guarding State Secrets was passed by the Chinese State Council in April and is now being considered by the Standing Committee of [...]

A group of five Kenyans involved in the country's Mau Mau uprising during the 1950s sued the British government on Tuesday, alleging that they were abused in British prison camps. The five filed a claim in the High Court in London seeking a public apology and compensation for alleged beatings, sexual abuse, and unlawful detention. [...]

Iranian authorities announced on Tuesday that they would not hold a new presidential election, maintaining that there was no evidence of any major fraud or irregularity in the contested results . Following its investigation , the country's Guardian Council for the Constitution rejected protesters' requests to abandon the results and start over, asserting that President [...]

Jesse Stout : "When the Rhode Island Medical Marijuana Act became law in January 2006, seriously ill patients started calling the Rhode Island Patient Advocacy Coalition (RIPAC) to ask, "Where do I get my medicine?" There was no good answer: they could grow it themselves, unless they were too sick; they could appoint a caregiver, [...]

The Japanese Diet has passed an anti-piracy law, authorizing the government to dispatch forces to combat pirate attacks against commercial vessels. The law, passed by the House of Representatives Friday, allows the country's military to protect foreign vessels as well as domestic ones, joining multinational forces in policing the Somali coast. Additionally, the law criminalizes [...]

A federal judge ordered the release of a Guantanamo Bay detainee Monday, ruling that Syrian national Abdulrahim Abdul Razak Al Ginco could not be considered a member of a terrorist organization when originally taken into custody due to the "passage of time, intervening events, or both." Judge Richard Leon of the US District Court for [...]

US State Department spokesperson Ian Kelly said Monday that the US is concerned over China's decision to require software that would block certain Internet content. The Chinese government is requiring that all personal computers sold after July 1 include software that is designed filter certain websites. The software limits citizens' ability to view violent and [...]

The president of the French National Assembly Bernard Accoyer announced Tuesday the creation of a commission to study the wearing of the Muslim burqa . The statement came after French President Nicolas Sarkozy strongly criticized the practice Monday during a major policy address. Becoming the first French president to address parliament in nearly a century [...]

US President Barack Obama on Monday signed into law the Family Smoking and Tobacco Prevention Act , which grants the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) certain authority to regulate tobacco products. In remarks delivered before signing, Obama stressed the importance of the new legislation, which was passed in response to the 8 million tobacco-related illnesses [...]

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on Monday sentenced former Rwandan interior minister Callixte Kalimanzira to 30 years imprisonment on charges of genocide and public incitement. The three-judge panel of Trial Chambers III found that, because of his position as a government official and high status in Butare society, Kalimanzira was responsible for luring [...]