A lawyer for Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir , imprisoned for his role in the 2002 Bali bombings , on Thursday protested an Australian official's statements with regard to Bashir's sentence as interfering in Indonesian affairs. Australian Justice Minister Chris Ellison said Wednesday that Australia opposed any further reduction in Bashir's 30-month sentence for conspiracy [...]

More than 20 years following the death of Roberto Calvi , the trial of five people accused of murdering him began Thursday in Italy. Calvi, known as "God's Banker" for his financial ties to the Vatican, was found hanging from Blackfriars Bridge in June 1982 in London. His death was originally ruled a suicide, but [...]

The trial of Saddam Hussein for the 1982 killings of 143 Shiite Muslims in the village of Dujail will likely be postponed, according to a senior British official. Earlier this week, the Iraqi Special Tribunal officially confirmed that the trial would start October 19 , but the unnamed official said Wednesday that Iraq will not [...]

The Israeli Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that Israeli defense forces' use Palestinian civilians as human shields during arrest raids violated international law. Human rights groups had petitioned to halt the practice after a temporary injunction was previously issued in August 2002. The court held that the use of civilians for such a purpose amounted [...]

The Spanish government has announced plans to expel hundreds of illegal African immigrants who have entered the country over the past week in a series of mass rushes on the country's small border with Morocco in Melilla. Spanish Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega said that illegal immigrants would be returned to [...]

Greece's handling of asylum seekers and immigrants includes incidents of human rights abuses and discrimination, according to a new report from Amnesty International . According to the report, titled Out of the Spotlight , Greece has failed to meet international human rights standards in its asylum and immigration procedures, and people have reported incidents of [...]

Spain's Constitutional Court ruled Wednesday that thousands of alleged killings and kidnappings committed during Guatemala's civil war may be tried by Spanish courts. The court ruling opened up the country's tribunals to hear genocide cases, even if they do not involve Spanish citizens. The court concluded that universal jurisdiction outweighed national interests in cases of [...]

A North Carolina judge ruled Wednesday that $318 million in funds from a 1998 tobacco settlement should be released to tobacco farmers as litigation continues over other remaining payments. Tobacco companies had sought a refund of the money after the federal government approved a $10 billion buyout of tobacco quotas last year. However, North Carolina [...]

AP is reporting that the US Senate has overwhelmingly approved legislation that sets restrictions on the detention, interrogation and prosecution of terror suspects. The Senate approved the measure by a 90-9 vote margin despite the threat of a White House veto . The legislation, which was approved as part of a military spending bill and [...]

Russia cautioned Switzerland on Wednesday that the countries' bilateral ties would be harmed by the Swiss decision to extradite former Russian atomic energy minister Yevgeny Adamov to the US. Switzerland's Ministry of Justice ruled earlier this week that Adamov must faces charges in the US prior to being returned to Russia. Russia had sought to [...]