The Russian Supreme Court Tuesday rejected the appeal of former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov to reinstate his candidacy in the March Russian presidential election. Last week, the Russian Central Election Commission banned Kasyanov from running in the election , rejecting 13.36 percent of signatures he submitted in support of his candidacy as either forged or [...]

A defense lawyer representing four ex-officers of the former Rwandan army facing trials before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) has accused Prosecutor Hassan Jallow of concealing evidence favorable to the defense, according to Monday media reports. Lawyer Christopher Black claims Jallow possesses witness statements indicating that Black's client, former Rwandan army general Augustin [...]

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour Tuesday urged the Chadian government and rebel forces to follow humanitarian law and respect human rights as fighting continued for a fourth day after rebels entered the capital city of N'Djamena in an attempt to overthrow Chadian President Idriss Deby . An estimated 20,000 civilians have fled [...]

Private government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) Tuesday urged US Attorney General Michael Mukasey to appoint a special counsel to investigate whether the White House had violated the Federal Records Act and the Presidential Records Act in failing to preserve millions of missing White House e-mails . In September 2007 [...]

US Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, on Monday criticized a provision in the Bush administration's proposed $3 trillion FY09 budget that would fund the newly created Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) through the Department of Justice (DOJ) rather than through the National Archives and Records Administration as originally intended. [...]

The Chinese government on Tuesday announced the release on parole of Hong Kong reporter Ching Cheong ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year. Ching, sentenced to five years in prison in 2006 for allegedly selling "state secrets and intelligence" to Taiwan , was the chief China correspondent for Singapore's Straits Times . In November 2006, [...]

Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai is concerned about the imposition of the death penalty against journalism student Sayad Parwez Kambaksh but will not intervene in the case pending Kambaksh's appeal, a presidential spokesman said Tuesday. Under Article 64 of the Afghanistan Constitution , Afghanistan's president may reduce penalties and grant pardons in accordance with provisions of [...]

A federal judge on Monday upheld a jury verdict finding Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church guilty of intentional infliction of emotional distress and invasion of privacy for staging a protest at the funeral of Lance Cpl. Matthew A. Snyder . Judge Richard Bennett of the US District Court for the District of Maryland [...]

A Chinese court convicted dissident writer Lu Gengsong on subversion charges Tuesday, sentencing Lu to four years in prison for writing essays exposing corruption within the Communist Party of China (CPC) . Lu was arrested last October and charged in January with "inciting subversion of state power." Lu's lawyer says they plan to appeal the [...]

A federal district court on Monday rejected the Bush administration's attempt to exempt the US Navy from environmental laws so that the Navy could continue using sonar in its anti-submarine warfare training off the coast of southern California. Last month, President Bush issued a memorandum exempting the Navy from the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) [...]