Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) , chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), ranking member of the committee, have sent a letter to US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales asking him again to respond to questions about the Bush administration's warrantless wiretapping program and to disclose documents on the legal basis for it. [...]

The Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) Wednesday urged the UN Security Council to refer Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe to the International Criminal Court for his role in Operation Murambatsvina , a coordinated effort to remove unlicensed sellers and non-zoned houses from the streets of Harare in 2005. COHRE claims that Mugabe's actions rise [...]

Businessman Schabir Shaik, a former business associate of former South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma , began his appeal hearing before the South African Constitutional Court Wednesday. Shaik's lawyers allege that Shaik's conviction for fraud and corruption was the result of an inherently unfair trial caused by Zuma's absence and "irregularities in prosecutorial conduct." Shaik [...]

The US Senate voted Tuesday to keep plans to establish a temporary guest worker program in the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007 . An amendment proposed by Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (D-ND) that sought to eliminate the temporary guest worker program failed 31-64 . The proposed temporary worker visa program would provide between 400,000 [...]

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev Tuesday approved a constitutional amendment removing term limits on his own presidency. The measure, which only applies to Nazarbayev, was proposed by the president last week and was approved by a large majority of the Kazakh parliament on Friday. Under the amendment, subsequent presidents will have to abide by the law [...]

The Philippines' Commission on Elections (COMELEC) Tuesday stopped the counting of last week's votes for congressional candidates in the southern province of Maguindanao to investigate allegations of fraud. Early reports of voter intimidation and vote-rigging have emerged across the country; in Maguindanao, an independent watchdog group complained that it was blocked from monitoring the voting [...]

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko asked a lower court in Kiev Tuesday to block the Constitutional Court of Ukraine from ruling on his April 2 decree dissolving parliament by challenging the court's actions and alleging corruption . This follows his rejection of the Constitutional Court's authority last week after the court appointed Valeri Pshenischny as new [...]

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) held hearings Tuesday on California's request for a waiver of preemption for its greenhouse gas emission standards for new cars. The standards would require car manufacturers to cut emissions by 25 percent from cars and light trucks, and 18 percent from SUVs, starting with the 2009 model year. California's [...]

Thousands of farmers in southwestern China reportedly rioted over the weekend due to efforts by local government officials to more strictly enforce China's "One Child Policy" . A local resident told AP said that the government had imposed fines of over 10,000 yuan ($1,300 USD) on families that had too many children. Hong Kong-based Ming [...]

Lawyers for former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra Tuesday threatened to bring a lawsuit against a committee investigating Thaksin's alleged corruption if it releases details of a report into a controversial land purchase . Thaksin's lawyers believe that the release of the information would prejudice any case against Thaksin. Subcommittee chairman Udom Fuangfung had planned [...]