Nineteen lawmakers in the US House of Representatives have introduced a resolution to support Taiwan's bid for UN membership. Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ) introduced the bill at a Thursday meeting of the House Foreign Affairs Committee , despite opposition by the Bush administration to a recent push by Taiwanese President Chen Shui-Ban for a Taiwanese [...]

Frank V. Zerunyan, Esq. : "The People's House of the United States of America must follow its tradition and uphold the truth above all else. The speaker of the House of Representatives must bring HR106 to a floor vote because the resolution is morally, intellectually, historically and legally consistent with our American values. We Americans [...]

Manfo Kwaku Asiedu pleaded guilty Friday to a charge of conspiracy to cause explosions over the failed bomb attacks on London's subway and bus systems on June 21, 2005. Six suspects – Asiedu, Hussein Osman, Muktar Said Ibrahim, Yassin Omar, Ramzi Mohamed, and Adel Yahya – went on trial in 2006. All but Asideu and [...]

Lawyers for Canadian citizen Maher Arar argued before a three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit that Arar should be allowed to revive his lawsuit against senior officials in the US government. Arar was detained in the US in 2002 after flying to New York from Tunisia on his way [...]

The Parliament of the Georgian Republic voted Friday to approve a 15-day state of emergency imposed by President Mikhail Saakashvili earlier this week. Opposition members boycotted the vote and the measure passed the 235-seat assembly 149-0. The vote follows Saakashvili's statements Thursday that the state of emergency would only last a few days and that [...]

Three Spanish air crew and a Belgian pilot held in Chad in connection with a French charity's attempt to airlift 103 children alleged to be Darfur orphans were released Friday. Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos praised Chadian officials, including President Idriss Deby , for their smooth handling of the situation and said that Spain [...]

Former federal judge Michael B. Mukasey was sworn in Friday as the 81st attorney general of the United States after a confirmation process fraught with controversy. The US Senate voted 53-40 late Thursday evening to confirm Mukasey's nomination. The nomination was backed by the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this week by an 11-8 vote. Much [...]

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Friday accused his opposition of using "fascist violence" to oppose constitutional changes that would eliminate presidential term limits and augment the president's emergency powers. Earlier this month, the Venezuelan National Assembly approved a set of proposed amendments to the country's constitution by a 160-7 vote. The proposed amendments passed a preliminary [...]

United Nations General Secretary Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday called on nations, organizations and individuals to respect laws passed for the protection of children . Ban's comments come in the wake of an unsuccessful bid by a French charity to fly 103 children out of Chad late last month. Chadian authorities foiled an attempt by [...]

The government of Norway Friday proposed creating laws to allow for the prosecution of war crimes, genocide and terrorism. Current Norwegian law does not specifically include these offenses, and it is standard policy to turn over accused war criminals to international war crime tribunals in The Hague. Norwegian Justice Minister Knut Storberget said that the [...]