Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev Wednesday called for a national referendum on amending the Kyrgyzstan constitution to elect parliament members by party list rather than by direct election, saying such a change would help defeat a "constitutional deadlock." Critics say the change would hurt smaller parties and independent politicians in Kyrgyzstan , and is designed to [...]

A measure in the US Senate that would have overturned the current ban on habeas corpus petitions for detainees at Guantanamo Bay was unable to achieve the 60 votes needed to cut off debate Wednesday. Sponsored by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), the bill would have amended the National Defense Authorization [...]

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan Tuesday urged the government of Turkey to remove the current ban on the wearing of headscarves at state universities , saying that the ban effectively denies some Muslim women access to higher education. Erdogan, whose Muslim-rooted AK Party promised a new constitution after winning elections earlier this year, said [...]

A Zimbabwean parliamentary debate on a draft constitutional amendment bill that could essentially give Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe the authority to appoint his successor concluded without challenge Tuesday. Floor debate lasted only one day , and the swift conclusion was dubbed an "historical collaboration" by state television network ZTV. The proposed changes would allow parliament [...]

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the US and nine other countries to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty on Tuesday, saying that the ratification would "move us toward the larger goals of ridding the world of nuclear weapons and preventing their proliferation." UN diplomats said that US leadership is essential to finishing the deal, which will [...]

German Minister of Justice Brigitte Zypries on Tuesday proposed adding two new criminal offenses to Germany's anti-terrorism law in the wake of the September 4 arrest of three suspected Islamic militants who are accused of planning a series of car bombings. The first proposed offense, "preparing an act of violence," would criminalize actions in furtherance [...]

Protesters in Buenos Aires on Tuesday marked the one-year anniversary of the disappearance of Jorge Julio Lopez , who is believed to have been kidnapped after testifying against Miguel Etchecolatz in the latter's trial for crimes committed during Argentina's Dirty War . Lopez, 77, had testified that he was abducted in 1976 and held in [...]

Cambodian officials on Tuesday arrested former Khmer Rouge official Nuon Chea and escorted him to a hearing before the co-investigating judges of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) , the court established to try former Khmer Rouge leaders. At the hearing, the court charged Chea with crimes against humanity and war crimes [...]

Former Milberg Weiss partner William S. Lerach has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to obstruct justice charges in a plot in which Milberg Weiss allegedly paid up to $11.3 million in illegal kickbacks since 1984 to individuals to serve as lead plaintiffs in class action and shareholder derivative lawsuits. As part of the plea [...]

Giovanni Di Stefano : "On the 4th of September, 2007 the Iraqi High Tribunal Appeal Section refused the appeal of Al Majid et al, effectively condemning the indictees to death. On the 9th of September, 2007 I duly filed applications with President Talabani to commute the sentences of Ali Hassan al-Majid, Sultan Hashim Ahmed Hussein [...]