The US military in Afghanistan began court-martial proceedings Friday for a US soldier accused of abusing detainees last year in the southern Uruzgan province. Army Spc. James Hayes is accused of punching detainees in the chest, shoulders, and stomach during the incident, and faces charges of conspiracy to maltreat, dereliction of duty, maltreatment of detainees, [...]

Marvin Bieghler was executed in Indiana Friday morning after the US Supreme Court overturned a stay ordered by the US Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Bieghler was convicted for the 1981 deaths of Tommy Miller, who Bieghler suspected tipped police to Bieghler's drug dealing activities, and Miller's pregnant wife, Kimberly Jane Miller. Bieghler had appealed [...]

The Indonesian government on Thursday submitted a draft law to parliament that would grant the Aceh province some degree of self-rule. The proposal comes after the historic signing of a peace accord in August between Indonesia and the rebel group, Free Aceh Movement (GAM) . The legislation will be debated soon, and is expected to [...]

Canadian Prime Minister-designate Stephen Harper , elected earlier this week and slated to be sworn in February 6 by Canada's Governor-General , went out of his way at his first news conference Thursday to reassert the importance of Canada's Arctic sovereignty. Responding to a comment by US Ambassador to Canada David Wilkins that the Northwest [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit challenging federal airport regulations that require passengers to show identification before boarding airplanes. Libertarian activist John Gilmore had argued that the regulations, which have not been publicly disclosed, constituted an illegal search and violated his right to travel freely. The federal [...]

Lawyers representing I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby , Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff indicted in the CIA leak case , have asked the federal judge presiding over the case to force prosecutors to turn over information about what reporters knew about Valerie Plame before her identity was publicly disclosed. Libby has pleaded not [...]

Leading Friday's international brief, the UN Security Council is considering sanctions against both rebel and government elements in Cote d'Ivoire that are accused of purposefully delaying and sabotaging fragile peace negotiations in the nation, which has been the scene of armed conflict since rebels seized the northern territories in 2002. Several hundred UN staffers have [...]

John Gilmore v. Alberto R. Gonzales et al., United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, January 26, 2006 . Read the full text of the ruling . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned Thursday that Kosovo has not moved quickly enough to implement international standards of human rights, democraticization, ethnic tolerance and law enforcement. The Serbian province, under UN administration since the end of the Kosovo conflict in 1999 that forced out the Yugoslav military and allowed the return of hundreds of thousands [...]

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has complained to Washington that the United States violated its sovereignty in a recent air strike on a village near the Afghanistan border. The failed January 13 attack by a CIA Predator drone was intended for key Al Qaeda operatives but killed 18 Pakistani villagers. In Islamabad, some legislators are calling [...]