British authorities submitted a formal extradition request to Russia on Monday, seeking Andrei Lugovoy in the poisoning-murder of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko . Last week, UK Attorney General Lord Goldsmith rejected a Russian offer to try Lugovoy in Russia, calling for his extradition to the United Kingdom. The Russian government has thus far refused [...]

A Chinese court sentenced Zheng Xiaoyu, former commissioner of China's State Food and Drug Administration , to death on Tuesday for taking bribes in exchange for his approval of substandard drugs. Zheng received over $832,000 in bribes, allowing eight companies to bypass the drug approval process, including one which released an antibiotic accused of killing [...]

Venezuelan Information Minister William Lara has filed lawsuits against media giant CNN and Venezuelan broadcast network Globovision , alleging that the two stations presented false information concerning Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and that Globovision issued a call for Chavez's assassination. The government is seeking an order to revoke Globovision's broadcast license. The lawsuits came as [...]

A conflict over constitutional changes in the Turkish parliament became physical Monday as nearly a dozen MPs started fighting on the parliamentary floor after one member criticized Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer . The parliament was debating a constitutional change to presidential elections, an amendment Sezer had originally sent back to MPs , saying that [...]

A Zimbabwean government minister confirmed on Monday that the government will proceed with plans to enact the National Indigenisation and Empowerment Bill, which would force foreign business owners to give up controlling interests in private companies located inside Zimbabwe . The bill was approved by the Zimbabwean cabinet earlier in May and then presented to [...]

The outgoing government of British Prime Minister Tony Blair has run into stiff criticism of a proposal to give police new "stop and question" powers under toughened anti-terror laws . The proposal, which was leaked to the media late last week before all government MPs were aware of it, would confer on law enforcement officers [...]

Only a handful of deportations sought by US immigration authorities between 2004 and 2006 resulted from terrorism charges, according to a study released Sunday by a research institute at Syracuse University. The Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse examined the rulings of 200 immigration court judges employed by the Justice Department and examined DOJ records of criminal [...]

A Pakistan judge Monday ordered two women who have publicly acknowledged their same-sex relationship jailed for perjury after one initially claimed to be a man. Sixteen years ago Shumail Raj had herself surgically altered to remove her breasts and uterus, but medical examiners found that she was still a woman. She and her partner Shahzina [...]

Francois-Xavier Byuma, vice-president of the board of the Rwandan League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LIPRODHOR) and president of the Rwandan Association for the Protection and Promotion of the Child, was sentenced to 19 years in prison Sunday by a local gacaca court for colluding with criminals, and beating and injuring a [...]

Russian police arrested dozens of demonstrating gay rights activists Sunday, including European lawmakers who wanted to present a letter to Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov , who had rejected a request by gay rights activists to hold a parade to mark the 14th anniversary of the decriminalization of homosexuality in Russia . The group of activists [...]