The Palestinian National Authority carried out four death sentences Sunday, the first time the Palestinian government had put convicts to death since 2002, when Bashir Atari, 21, was executed by firing squad for cutting the throats of two women. The four men executed Sunday had been convicted of murder and other crimes, and were put [...]

Sudan officials announced Sunday that the nation will set up its own court to investigate and prosecute crimes committed during the uprising in Darfur . Last week the Sudan government backed down from its opposition to International Criminal Court investigations , but made it clear that it is opposed to sending citizens to a foreign [...]

A Washington Post examination of US Department of Justice terror prosecutions to appear in the paper's Sunday edition shows very little progress in identifying and convicting terrorists since September 11, 2001. In contrast to President Bush's recent claims that federal terror investigations under the Patriot Act have resulted in charges against some 400 people and [...]

Iraqi National Security Adviser Muwafaq al-Rubie said Saturday that the trial of former President Saddam Hussein will take place before the currently-scheduled October 15 referendum on the new Iraqi constitution , and that the trial will be broadcast live on television. Hussein will appear before the Iraqi Special Tribunal on charges likely related to the [...]

A Iraqi Sunni leader concerned with low Sunni representation on the committee charged with drafting Iraq’s new constitution reiterated Saturday that Sunnis will suspend work on the document if the make-up of the committee is not altered. Adnan Dulaimi, chairman of the Sunni charitable foundation body, told Islam Online that if their demands were not [...]

Violence broke out on the streets of the Polish capital Warsaw Saturday when right-wing activists confronted over 2,000 homosexuals marching for gay rights in the predominantly Catholic country. Three people were injured and ten were arrested after counter-demonstrators opposed to Warsaw Pride threw eggs and placed barricades in front of the parade route. The rally [...]

Republican Senator Mel Martinez has become the first major GOP lawmaker to call for the closure of the military terror detention camp at Guantamao Bay . Speaking Friday in Florida, Martinez, a former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the first term Bush cabinet, called the facility an "icon of bad news". His comments [...]

Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura has pledged $11 million to fill a funding gap for a tribunal to try former Khmer Rouge leaders for genocide, according to Cambodian government sources. Machimura met with Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong in Phnom Penh on Friday. The Khmer Rouge trials are expected to cost over $70 million and [...]

Lawyers for former WorldCom CEO Bernie Ebbers filed a motion Friday asking for a lesser sentence for his fraud conviction in March. The motion included support from Ebbers' family members, friends, and former employees in over 150 letters outlining his character and his many charitable gifts to organizations such as the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board [...]

Six justices of the US Supreme Court held over $1 million in assets in 2004, according to new annual financial disclosure statements released Friday. O'Connor, Breyer, Ginsburg, Scalia, Souter, and Stevens are the millionaires, while O'Connor was the court's busiest traveler last year through her research into international law, attending lectures, receiving awards, and meeting [...]