The Moscow City Court has denied the appeal of former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky , saying it could find no grounds to reconsider Khodorkovsky's eight-year prison sentence . Khodorkovsky's lawyers have said they will continue the appeals process , petitioning the Russian Supreme Court . A separate appeal of Khodorkovsky's conviction on fraud and tax [...]

Amnesty International Wednesday released a report it has submitted to the UN Committee Against Torture detailing widespread torture and inhumane treatment of prisoners at US detention sites around the world and at facilities in the United States, saying that the US is "creating a climate in which torture and other ill-treatment can flourish — including [...]

Government officials in Yemen have said that three newspapers shut down after they republished caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad may resume operations. The three papers, including the English-language Yemen Observer were closed and their licenses suspended earlier this year over their decision to reprint the cartoons originally published in Denmark. Three journalists were arrested and [...]

Leading Wednesday's international brief, Uganda's second key witness in the treason case against opposition leader Kizza Besigye has admitted to perjury under cross-examination by Besigye's lawyers. Migadde Ssemakula, who claims he is a lieutenant with Uganda's intelligence gathering Internal Security Organization (ISO), admitted that facts he testified to concerning alleged meetings between Besigye and revolutionaries [...]

The release of a revised US Army Field Manual on Intelligence Interrogation has been delayed while Defense Department officials continue to debate whether a portion of the manual should remain secret. Discussions have been underway for over a year on updates to the field manual, but officials have not been able to agree on whether [...]

US Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said Tuesday that a filibuster is possible for two of President Bush's nominees to federal appeals courts, White House aide Brett Kavanaugh and federal judge Terrence Boyle . Kavanaugh has been nominated to serve on the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit and Boyle has been [...]

The European Union on Wednesday called off its talks with Serbia over the country's possible accession into the EU over Serbia's failure to arrest and turn over war crimes fugitive Ratko Mladic . EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn had set a Sunday deadline for Mladic's arrest, but that deadline passed without the former general being [...]

Members of the US House and Senate on Tuesday introduced bipartisan legislation to renew the Voting Rights Act of 1965 , which prohibits voter discrimination based on race or color. Although most of the act is permanent, three sections, including a requirement that states or counties with a history of discrimination secure Justice Department or [...]

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan presented his recommendations for a global counter-terrorism strategy to the UN General Assembly Tuesday, emphasizing the need to respect human rights in all aspects of anti-terrorism policy and practice. The defense of human rights constituted the fifth part of what he called the fundamental components of a global strategy, which also [...]

A spokesman for President Vicente Fox said Tuesday that the Mexican leader will sign a controversial new law legalizing the possession of small portions of such traditionally-illegal drugs as heroin, cocaine and marijuana. The legislation is viewed as a progressive move in the country's war against drugs that will free the legal system to concentrate [...]