Human Rights Watch has called on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to release hundreds of political opponents and reporters who have been arrested in recent months as part of a government crackdown on opposing opinions. The US-based human rights group put their request in a letter released Tuesday, which was sent to Assad saying the Syrian [...]

The family of a man convicted for the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings said they will not pursue clemency on his behalf, allowing the Indonesian government to carry out his death sentence, according to a spokesman for the attorney general Tuesday. Imam Samudra has indicated that he wishes to die under the belief that it would [...]

A jury on Tuesday awarded $9 million in punitive damages to a New Jersey man who sued pharmaceutical giant Merck on grounds that his prolonged use of the drug Vioxx caused him to suffer a heart attack, marking the first suit involving facts of long-term use . John McDarby took the pain reliever for four [...]

A Turkish court on Tuesday dropped criminal charges against four journalists over reports critical of a court opinion last fall, but the court upheld charges against a fifth journalist. The court dismissed charges against the four because it held that prosecutors failed to file charges within the two months following publication of the stories. The [...]

Police in Nepal fired on a crowd of pro-democracy protestors Tuesday, injuring at least 12, observers said. Reports said that protestors in Kathmandu marched from an area not covered by a curfew toward a line of police, who then fired on the demonstrators. It was unclear whether police were using live ammunition or rubber bullets. [...]

UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Manfred Nowak has said that Uzbekistan authorities continue to use torture , particularly against those who oppose the government, noting that he has evidence of systematic torture by police and security forces in the country. Nowak also criticized Germany for failing to arrest former Uzbek Interior Minister Zakir Almatov while [...]

World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz said Tuesday that corruption of its judicial system is one of the largest challenges Indonesia faces in attracting more investment. Wolfowitz said cleaning up the courts would help the country attract foreign investors and ensure economic growth. Wolfowitz, the former US deputy defense secretary, was speaking in Jakarta after meeting [...]

A series of speakers in the Arizona State Legislature offered stinging criticism in floor speeches Monday of demonstrators who marched in support of a chance for citizenship for illegal immigrants in the US. A group of Republican legislators said the protests were an assault on the "rule of law" and granting amnesty to illegal immigrants [...]

Leading Tuesday's international brief, Israel's cabinet has declared Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to be permanently incapacitated , marking the official end of the Sharon administration and opening the way for acting-PM Ehud Olmert to assume control of the administration as interim prime minister. Sharon was still considered the PM following his January stroke, but Israeli [...]

A medical officer in the UK's Royal Air Force has pleaded not guilty to charges that he failed to comply with a legal order for refusing to return to Iraq for a third tour of duty. Flight Lieutenant Malcolm Kendall-Smith , who has dual British and New Zealand citizenship, refused to go back to Iraq [...]