A panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit that included retired US Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor ruled Monday that using taxpayer money to fund a faith-based treatment program in a state jail is unconstitutional. The voluntary program, the InnerChange Freedom Initiative , immerses prisoners in evangelical Christianity by [...]

The military government of Myanmar reported Monday that it has released 8,585 detainees since the middle of November to celebrate progress toward drafting a national constitution , but opposition party National League for Democracy said that number only includes 10 political prisoners. International groups believe that Myanmar is still detaining 1,800 political prisoners, including 700 [...]

The Israeli cabinet on Monday approved the release of 429 Palestinian prisoners as a gesture of good will toward Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the wake of talks renewed peace talks between Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert at last week's Annapolis peace conference . Most of the released inmates belong to Abbas' secular [...]

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda Monday sentenced a former witness to nine months in prison for contempt of court and giving false testimony before the tribunal. The witness, who was only identified as GAA, pleaded guilty to giving false testimony during the 2004 trial of former Rwandan Higher Education Minister Jean de Dieu Kamuhanda [...]

The retrial of six Frenchmen who were released from the US detention center in Guantanamo Bay began Monday in Paris. The six stand accused of attending combat training at an al Qaeda camp in Afghanistan. France freed five of the suspects after their repatriation to France from Guantanamo in July 2004 and March 2005 . [...]

Pakistani election officials ruled Monday that former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif cannot not run as a candidate in January parliamentary elections because of a 2000 criminal conviction. A rival candidate had challenged Sharif's nomination based on his involvement in an illegal attempt to prevent a plane carrying then army chief and current President Pervez [...]

The US Supreme Court on Monday granted certiorari in three cases , including Philippines v. Pimental (06-1204) , in which the Supreme Court will consider whether the government of the Philippines had the right to be a party in litigation on claims to a $35 million account for a Panamanian corporation allegedly formed to hide [...]

The military government of Myanmar Monday rejected calls from the United Nations for the country's constitution-drafting process to be opened to outside groups, saying that the new constitution would be drafted solely by a 54-member constitution-drafting commission . The constitution-drafting commission, announced in October, will be comprised of both civilian and military members, all of [...]

A unanimous panel of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) Monday denied bail to former Khmer Rouge official Kaing Guek Eav , also known as Duch, for fear that he might flee or threaten witnesses. Defense lawyers had argued last month that Duch should be granted bail in the months before his [...]

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir Monday pardoned British school teacher Gillian Gibbons, convicted of insulting Islam last week for allowing her students to name the class teddy bear Muhammad. Last Thursday, Gibbons was sentenced to 15 days in prison and deportation under Article 125 of the Sudanese criminal code. Gibbons had originally been charged with inciting [...]