The European Commission has outlined its plan to combat human trafficking during a two-day conference, Tackling Human Trafficking , stressing the importance of cooperation between member states in the effort to stem the flow of adults and children smuggled into countries to work for low wages or as prostitutes. EU Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini pressed [...]

Top UN investigator Detlev Mehlis on Thursday turned a report over to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri . Annan is expected to send a copy of the report to the UN Security Council and to Lebanese leaders on Friday. The UN launched the investigation in May [...]

The US military announced late Wednesday that it is conducting an investigation into the alleged desecration of the bodies of two dead Taliban fighters in Afghanistan by US soldiers. The troops burned two bodies and used the charred remains in a propaganda campaign against insurgents, broadcast over loudspeakers towards a village thought to be hiding [...]

A Virginia oil trading company has pleaded guilty to charges of first-degree grand larceny in connection with the United Nations Oil-for-Food scandal , according to a US prosecutor Thursday. Midway Trading was accused of paying kickbacks to Iraqi officials for oil purchases made under the program and will pay a $250,000 fine for its guilty [...]

Prosecutors for Spain's National Court asked Thursday that the court drop an arrest warrant issued for three American soldiers who allegedly killed Spanish journalist Jose Couso and a Ukrainian cameraman in Iraq, according to a court official. The prosecutor's office said that Spain does not have jurisdiction to investigate causes of death that result from [...]

Judges at The Hague Thursday refused a request by Slobodan Milosevic , on trial for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) , for more time to question witnesses for his defense, and then urged Milosevic to accept the legal help offered to him. Milosevic [...]

Although the Saddam Hussein trial has been delayed until next month , a key witness seriously ill with cancer will testify before the trial resumes, presiding Judge Rizgar Amin announced Thursday. The witness, Wadah Ismael al-Sheikh, was a senior Iraqi intelligence officer serving in Dujail during the 1982 massacre at issue in the trial. Hussein, [...]

An alliance of British writers, comedians, and bishops Thursday proposed amendments they want added to the Racial and Religious Hatred Bill , which was debated last week in the UK House of Lords . Comedic actor Rowan Atkinson and former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey are part of the coalition proposing safeguards that will protect [...]

Three militant fighters convicted for the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings that killed over 200 have refused to seek presidential pardons, saying that they are prepared to be executed, a prosecutor said Thursday. The bombing in Bali earlier this month triggered calls for the immediate execution of the 2002 bombers, who are believed to be associated [...]

Australian state leaders warned Thursday that "shoot-to-kill" provisions in the country's anti-terrorism proposals could lead to another wrongful police shooting similar to the one by British officers who incorrectly identified a Brazilian citizen as a suicide bomber and killed him. The opposition could lead to a revision of the measure, but Australian Prime Minister John [...]