Former Nepalese prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has been charged by Nepal's new anti-corruption commission with misappropriation of state funds while in office, allegedly diverting money from the Prime Minister's Relief Fund. Deuba and his government were dismissed February 1 after King Gyanendra declared a state of emergency as a result of the Maoist revolution [...]

Juan Guzman, the Chilean judge best known for indicting military strongman and former dictator General Augusto Pinochet , has announced his retirement. Guzman indicted Pinochet twice, first in a case relating to the Caravan of Death which executed 70 political prisoners, and second in a case relating to Operation Condor , a plan to hunt [...]

New Ecuadorian President Alfredo Palacio announced Wednesday that a referendum will be scheduled in the next six months in an effort to stabilize the country's political situation. The referendum is expected to ask voters such questions as whether or not the current presidential system should be replaced by a parliamentary government. Ecuador has been plagued [...]

Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahrudi , head of the Iran Judiciary took the unusual step Thursday of criticizing the treatment of criminal detainees by Iranian police, and compared their interrogation techniques to those employed by US soldiers at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison . Shahrudi denounced what he called cases of the police issuing summons, making arrests, [...]

A federal appeals court has denied a request by the Georgia Cobb County School Board to keep disclaimer stickers calling evolution a "theory, not a fact" on the inside of district textbooks while appealing their case . Earlier this year, a federal district court ordered the School Board to remove the stickers on grounds that [...]

US Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA) Wednesday called on House Judiciary Committee chairman James Sensenbrenner Jr. to hold hearings to probe recent allegations that the military staged interrogations at Guantanamo Bay to deceive visiting lawmakers. Schiff’s request comes one week after former Army Sgt. Erik Saar, who served as a Guantanamo Bay translator and recently published [...]

In a 68-44 vote, the Florida House of Representatives has passed a measure that would allow judges to reduce or eliminate alimony when a recipient ex-spouse moves in with someone else. Under current Florida law, and in most jurisdictions in the country, judges are allowed to end alimony when a recipient remarries. Supporters of the [...]

The Canadian House of Commons Wednesday voted to give second reading to Bill C-38 , a measure to implement the Civil Marriage Act and extend marriage rights to same-sex couples. The bill, proposed by the ruling Liberal government, must now be reviewed by a legislative committee before a third and final vote. Courts in seven [...]

FBI officials announced Wednesday that the body of Emmett Till will be exhumed in upcoming weeks to determine the cause of his death and uncover evidence that could lead authorities to accomplices in his 1955 murder . In a brutal event that galvanized the country at the outset of the civil rights movement, Till was [...]

US audits released Wednesday show that at least $100 million dollars from the Development Fund for Iraq are unaccounted for due to mismanagement or possible fraud. The US Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction filed two audit reports pinpointing flaws in the US handling of Iraqi money from oil sales after the 2003 Iraq war, [...]