Citing ongoing disagreements over process, the head of the International Crisis Group conflict-monitoring organization called the initial August 15 deadline for the drafting of the permanent Iraqi constitution "unrealistic" in a Monday editorial in the Financial Times and suggested that the deadline be put off for the single six month period permitted in the country's [...]

A member of Saddam Hussein's defense team said Sunday that any trial of the former Iraqi dictator should take place not in Iraq, but in Europe. Giovanni di Stefano told a Swedish television interviewer that he would prefer to see Saddam tried in Sweden, Austria, Switzerland, or the Hague, Netherlands where a "fair trial" is [...]

Microsoft has agreed to block Chinese users of its new MSN Spaces blogging portal from using certain words and phrases including "democracy", "freedom", "human rights", and "Taiwan independence". A blogger entering those terms gets a message along the lines of "This item should not contain forbidden speech such as profanity. Please enter a different word [...]

US senators Chuck Hagel and Dianne Feinstein have responded to a newly released log of a Guantanamo interrogation with anger and bewilderment. Hagel, a Vietnam Veteran, said the practices reflected in the record telling of prisoner Mohammed al-Khatani being stripped naked and forced to bark like a dog and do other things was "not only [...]

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Sunday that he will sue the US in an international court if the US does not comply with a request to extradite Cuban exile and naturalized Venezuelan Luis Posada Carriles . Posada, accused of blowing up a Cuban airliner in 1976, was arrested in May 2005 in Miami on charges [...]

Iraqi prime minister spokesman Laith Kuba said during a press conference Sunday that the Sunni community's lack of experience in the political arena is a weak link in drafting the new constitution since this is the first time they have been in a negotiation process. However, Kuba also indicated his reluctance for any group to [...]

Italians began voting at 8 AM Rome time Sunday in referendums to lessen the limitations on existing legislation on fertility treatment and stem cell research. Pre-referendum polls predicted that the referendum would fail, suggesting that only 30-40% of voters would show up, when at least 50% are necessary in order for the referendum to be [...]

US Representative Duncan Hunter , chairman of the House Armed Services Committee , said in an interview with Fox News Sunday that there are members of the Bush administration who want to close the Guantanamo Bay prison camp to end the debate over allegations of abuse and "move on". In an interview that will air [...]

New York-based monitoring group Human Rights Watch said Sunday that the presidential election in Iran set for Friday cannot be free and fair because the country's unelected religious authority has approved a narrow list of candidates. A new HRW report highlights the fact that current Iran election law allows only candidates chosen by the country's [...]

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 [...]