Former Kosovo prime minister Ramush Haradinaj Monday pleaded not guilty in his initial appearance before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) . Haradinaj, who resigned his post and turning himself over to the court last week, plead not guilty to all 37 counts of war crimes including murder, persecution, and rape. His [...]

After questioning the rationale for continued use of capital punishment earlier this year, China has decided to reform but not eliminate the death penalty. Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao announced the reforms Monday , which some experts believe could lower the number of executions in the country by 30%. Under Chinese law 68 crimes can [...]

Abu Ali, a US citizen who allegedly joined al-Qaida while studying abroad in Saudi Arabia, pleaded not guilty on Monday to charges of providing material aid to terrorists . Ali, a former Virginia high school valedictorian, is accused of plotting to assassinate President Bush, in addition to providing support and funds to al-Qaida. An FBI [...]

After a Monday meeting with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas , UN Secretary General Kofi Annan announced that the UN will establish a register of property damage caused by the construction of Israel's two-year-old West Bank separation barrier . Annan said the UN position on the barrier was clear: an advisory opinion by the International Court [...]

The United Nations' Commission on Human Rights began its annual six-week session on Monday. This year's meeting may produce significant criticism of human rights abuses committed by the US against prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan. Activist groups, such as Human Rights Watch , are calling for the UN to condemn the American actions, and Cuba [...]

The Supreme Court of Zimbabwe Monday quashed an order from the state Media Commission denying the independent newspaper Daily News a license to publish. Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku advised the Harare paper, banned since September 2003, to submit a new license application to the Commission. More generally, however, the court refused to overturn contested provisions [...]

Opposition members in Hong Kong's legislature expressed outrage Monday at the weekend announcement that the elected successor to Tung Chee-Hwa, Hong Kong's former executive who resigned last Thursday , would only serve the remainder of Tung's term instead of a full five years. The decision, announced by Acting Chief Executive Donald Tsang , himself the [...]

Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party announced a draft bill Monday that would give the President of Taiwan the power to take action to "safeguard Taiwan's sovereignty and territory" – if necessary, without legislative approval. The draft legislation, brought forward in response to China's newly-passed anti-secession law in expected to be formally presented sometime Monday. It [...]

Following up on a report submitted last week to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon , the Israeli Cabinet Sunday agreed to remove the 24 Jewish outposts established on the Palestinian West Bank since Sharon took power in March 2001. Outposts – unofficial plantings of Isreali citizens in Palestinian territory to prevent the formation of a Palestinian [...]

Gojko Jankovic, a Bosnian Serb paramilitary leader, was transferred to the detention facility for the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia Monday after surrendering to Serbian authorities over the weekend. Jankovic is accused of encouraging his soldiers to perform acts of rape and torture on women arrested in the town of Foca during the [...]