The government of Pakistan has reiterated its refusal to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in the wake of its latest test of a nuclear-capable missile, saying that nuclear arms are vital to a stable balance of power, according to Tuesday reports. Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said that India – Pakistan's [...]

Abdullah Gul was sworn in as Turkey's new president Tuesday after winning a majority of votes in the Turkish parliament's third round of voting on his candidacy. Gul, supported by the Islamist-leaning Justice and Development Party (AKP) who had been serving as Turkey's foreign minster, pledged to uphold Turkey's secularist traditions. The Turkish army , [...]

US Army Lt. Col. Steven Jordan was acquitted by a military jury Tuesday of failing to control soldiers under his command who abused detainees at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison . He was convicted, however, of disobeying an order not to discuss the investigation into abuse allegations. Jordan was the second highest intelligence officer at the [...]

Russian authorities have charged at least four of the 10 suspects arrested Monday in connection with last October's killing of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya , a defense lawyer told reporters Tuesday. A spokesman from the office of Russian Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika has thus far declined to issue an official statement or identify those arrested. [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit Tuesday ordered former Wal-Mart vice chairman Tom Coughlin to face a new sentencing hearing, holding that his sentence was too lenient and improperly departed from the punishment prescribed by the Federal Sentencing Guidelines . Coughlin was sentenced to five years probation , including 27 months of [...]

A Manhattan federal judge Monday overturned a federal bankruptcy court's highly-controversial decision in the Enron case, ruling that holders of claims against a bankrupt company should have their claims extinguished if they purchased them from a seller who used "inequitable conduct." US District Judge Shira Scheindlin found that federal bankruptcy rules were only intended to [...]

A US magistrate judge for the Southern District of Florida issued a ruling Tuesday recommending that the US Department of State extradite former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega to France when he is released from federal prison on September 9, 2007. Noriega is charged in France with laundering money through French banks. In a related ruling [...]

Senior judges on the UK Council of HM Circuit Judges have warned UK lawmakers that the judiciary may balk at a plan to add new control orders to a draft criminal justice and immigration bill , the Guardian reported Tuesday. Lawmakers have proposed adding a violent offender order, which would impose tough restrictions on the [...]

The Bangladesh Supreme Court has overturned a court order granting bail to former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed , ruling Monday that she should remain in prison as she awaits trial on extortion charges . Earlier this month, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court ruled Hasina could be detained and prosecuted under emergency [...]

The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) released its first major report on racism and inequality in the European Union Tuesday, finding ethnic discrimination in employment, housing and education, as well as an increase in racist violence in many member states. Of the 11 reporting member states, racist crimes increased in Denmark, Germany, France, [...]