Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on Tuesday threatened harsh punishments for any groups that oppose his government in an Independence Day speech. He said, "Anyone who dares go against the law … dares lead any group of persons to embark on a campaign of violence or terrorist activities will be inviting the full wrath of the [...]

The speaker of the Russian Duma , Russia's lower house of parliament, said Tuesday that parliament would not hold another vote on whether to modify the constitution to allow the president to run for a third term. The Russian Constitution , adopted in 1993, limits presidents to two consecutive four-year terms. Russian President Vladimir Putin [...]

A military judge Tuesday said that US Army Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller , the former commander of military intelligence at the Guantanamo Bay prison facility, can be called to testify at the upcoming trial of a sergeant accused of using dogs to abuse detainees at the Abu Ghraib detention center in Iraq. Miller will testify [...]

Prosecutors in Yemen are seeking the death penalty against Mohammed Hamdi al-Ahdal , the alleged number two in the Yemen sect of al-Qaeda, who is being tried for plotting terrorist attacks as part of an armed group. Ahdal is on trial with four other alleged members of the group and was previously charged with receiving [...]

An opposition leader in Belarus said Tuesday that groups opposing the rule of President Alexander Lukashenko are proposing an international public trial to prosecute the regime's violations of Belarusian laws and the country's constitution . Anatoly Lebedko said the court would review Lukashenko's 1996 dismissal of the parliament that planned to impeach him and the [...]

Pro-democracy protests continued in Nepal on Tuesday, with government employees being arrested for the first time and international pressure from India and several human rights groups being put on King Gyanendra to resolve the situation. An estimated 20,000 protesters filled the streets of the small western town of Nepalgunj, shouting slogans against King Gyanendra and [...]

A federal judge on Monday ruled that North Carolina officials could use a brain-wave monitor rather than have a doctor present to ensure a prisoner was not conscious during an execution by lethal injection. Lawyers for the inmate, Willie Brown Jr. , said they would appeal the ruling, which they said could allow a violation [...]

The Alabama Legislature on Monday approved a bill that would pardon Rosa Parks , the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights activists convicted of violating Jim Crow laws in the state. Under an amendment to the bill, the arrest records of Parks and others would remain at museums where they are [...]

The Indiana Democratic Party on Monday said it would appeal a federal judge's ruling that a state law requiring voters to show photo identification is valid. Party Chairman Daniel Parker said the ruling "glossed over" details and questioned whether Public Law 109-2005 , passed last year by a Republican-controlled legislature, would prevent some voters from [...]

A New York judge on Monday ordered Transport Union Workers Local 100 to pay $2.5 million in fines for illegally going on strike in December, bringing New York City's public transport system to a halt. Judge Theodore Jones also suspended automatic dues collection by the union. Jones imposed a $1 million-per-day fine on the union [...]