Egyptian judges have threatened not to supervise presidential and parliamentary elections due later this year unless the government amends laws which limit judicial power and prevent the convening of free and fair elections. The judges say that close relations between the executive and the judiciary undermine their independence and ability to properly monitor elections and [...]

In an urgent appeal at a press conference in Santiago Friday, a coalition of leading human rights groups urged the Chilean Supreme Court to reconsider its January 25 decision to shut down unconcluded investigations of human rights violations that occurred under former Chilean dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet . The January ruling had set a six-month [...]

French commentators suggested Friday that a televised appeal by French President Jacques Chirac in a "town hall"-style meeting with young people broadcast Thursday evening and seen by over 9,000,000 viewers has failed to persuade skeptical French citizens to vote in support of the European constitution in the upcoming May 29 national referendum. The daily Le [...]

New US Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings castigated senior departmental officials Friday over the controversial hiring of conservative commentator Armstrong Williams to plug the No Child Left Behind Act . Williams was investigated by the FCC in January for his failure to disclose a $240,000 payment received from the Bush administration in connection with the [...]

Sheik Ahmed Abdul Ghafour al-Samarrai, a prominent Sunni cleric of the Association of Muslim Scholars , urged President Jalal Talabani on Friday to fulfill an earlier promise to pardon some 10,500 insurgents imprisoned by US forces. His remarks, stating that Talabani should not "obey and kneel to pressure" was made during Friday prayers, only three [...]

Leading Friday's corporations and securities law news, defense contractor Raytheon Company has announced that it's placed chief financial officer Edward S. Pliner and another employee on administrative leave and also offered to settle a SEC inquiry into accounting practices of its commuter aircraft business. Raytheon offered to pay $12 million as part of the settlement [...]

Dutch Minister for European Affairs Atzo Nicolai said Friday that the scheduled June 1 Netherlands referendum on the European constitution will not be delayed in the event of a French rejection of the pact. France's referendum is scheduled for May 29 and there is growing concern that French voters will reject the EU constitutional treaty. [...]

Member states of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are urging the United States to drop its opposition to a third term for current Director General Mohamed ElBaradei . The US has become increasingly displeased with ElBaradei due to what the US sees as a lack of cooperation on Iraq and Iran and was reported [...]

The US Senate unanimously approved a measure Thursday evening that would bar government agencies from using taxpayer funds to produce video press releases disguised as real news. The amendment , whose purpose is to "prohibit the use of funds by any Federal agency to produce a prepackaged news story without including in such story a [...]

Leading Friday's international brief, Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque announced Friday that Cuba rejected the UN Human Rights Commission resolution calling on Cuba to allow a special envoy to visit the island nation to investigate abuses. Cuba has been subject to an annual condemnation from the UN Human Rights Commission, but has never allowed [...]