The European Commission (EC) reported Wednesday that new EU members Bulgaria and Romania need to do more to achieve judicial reform, fight corruption and organized crime . A report on Bulgaria's progress in adhering to EU norms noted its passage of constitutional amendments relating to the judiciary as a positive step that met EU benchmarks [...]

The Seoul Administrative Court granted asylum Tuesday to a Chinese dissident who exposed allegations of human organ trading, overturning a ruling by the Ministry of Justice that denied asylum to the dissident and his family. The dissident, who is a member of the banned Chinese Democratic Party and has been in South Korea since 2003, [...]

US Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) on Tuesday urged federal appellate court Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh to recuse himself in "all pending and subsequent cases involving detainees and enemy combatants," after the Washington Post reported Monday that Kavanaugh, while serving as the assistant to the president and staff secretary to President Bush, participated in discussions that [...]

Three former officials from Saddam Hussein's regime, including Hussein's cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid – known in the Western media as "Chemical Ali" , will likely be executed in the Kurdish cities of Irbil or Halabja if their death sentences are upheld by the Appeals Chamber of the Iraqi High Tribunal , an Iraqi official said [...]

The jury in the Jose Padilla terrorism conspiracy case heard new wiretap evidence Tuesday suggesting that Padilla's co-defendants supported Osama bin Laden . The prosecution first played a video interview that aired on CNN in 1997, in which bin Laden denounced the United States as "tyrannical." Afterwards, the jurors heard FBI wiretapped conversations recorded shortly [...]

Former Deputy US Interior Secretary J. Steven Griles was sentenced to 10 months in prison Tuesday for his role in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal. As part of the negotiated plea deal, the Department of Justice recommended he serve five months in prison and the remainder of his sentence under house arrest. US District Judge [...]

The US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee voted 39-2 Tuesday to endorse a non-binding resolution asking Japan to formally apologize for enslaving Chinese women during World War II. The bill, drawing strong bipartisan support, now goes to the full US House for consideration. Thousands of Chinese "comfort women" were coerced into prostitution for the [...]

Amnesty International said Tuesday that humanitarian abuses have become commonplace in the Central African Republic (CAR) as the armed conflict between the government and opposition forces escalates, "virtually unnoticed by the international community." Amnesty researcher Godfrey Byaruhanga said that while international attention is focused on Chad and Darfur , the CAR has become a "hunting [...]

The US Senate voted 64-35 Tuesday to revive the comprehensive immigration reform bill . A little over a week ago Senate leaders said they would like to continue work on the bill , which was shelved early this month after a 50-45 vote to reject cloture . The Senate could begin voting on amendments as [...]

Former French President Jacques Chirac will likely be questioned in an alleged corruption scheme during Chirac's tenure as the mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995, Chirac's lawyer Jean Veil said Tuesday. Chirac, who headed the Rally for the Republic (RPR), now renamed as the Union for a Popular Movement , allegedly financed the RPR's [...]