Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran on Monday called for the UN General Assembly to appoint a special envoy to investigate allegations of human rights abuses in Iran since the controversial June presidential election . Both groups urged UN member states to seize the upcoming visit of Iranian [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled Monday that states can sue power companies for emitting carbon dioxide, allegedly contributing to global warming . The ruling came in a lawsuit brought by eight states — California, Connecticut, Iowa, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin — as well as New [...]

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski on Monday proposed "net neutrality" regulations that would prevent Internet providers from restricting access to particular services. At a speech at the Brookings Institution , Genachowski unveiled OpenInternet.gov , stressing the importance of "open Internet" principles. The FCC currently follows four open Internet principles: that consumers must be [...]

A US military judge on Monday granted the government's request for a 60-day continuance in the trial of five Guantanamo Bay detainees accused of plotting the 9/11 attacks . Judge Stephen Henley granted the delay in the case of self-proclaimed architect of the attacks Khalid Sheikh Mohammed , Ramzi bin al-Shibh , and three others, [...]

Italy systematically forces migrants to return to Libya where they face human rights abuses without screening them for possible asylum claims, according to a report released Monday by Human Rights Watch (HRW) . The report found that Italy often intercepts migrants traveling by boat from Libya and fails to screen migrants for potential refugee status [...]

British Liberal Democrats voted Monday to support a motion calling for a public investigation into the UK's potential complicity in torture. The motion, passed at the party's conference , calls for: A full and independent public inquiry into the facts relating to the involvement or knowledge of the British Government on matters relating to torture, [...]

Pakistani authorities on Monday placed under house arrest the leader of an Islamist group suspected of playing a key role in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks . Hafiz Muhammad Saeed , the founder and leader of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) was restricted from leaving his home by Pakistani authorities pursuant to Pakistani governmental orders. This is [...]

A French court on Monday began the trial of former prime minister Dominique de Villepin , accused of slandering businessmen and top politicians including current French President Nicolas Sarkozy . De Villepin is accused of having orchestrated the release of a fabricated list of government officials and business people who profited from illegal arms sales, [...]

The German Bundesrat gave final approval to a bill Friday that will allow Germany to ratify the EU reform treaty, known as the Lisbon Treaty . Although both houses of Germany's parliament had previously approved the treaty , the German Constitutional Court ruled in June that the treaty could not be ratified without certain parliamentary [...]

Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik announced Saturday that his government would indict seven suspects in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks . He also requested further evidence from India that the head of the erstwhile-Islamic charity and fundamentalist terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba , Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, was involved in planning the attacks. Recent reports on Saeed's involvement [...]