Chile's Supreme Court Thursday upheld the acquittal of former dictator Augusto Pinochet on charges that he ordered political abductions and murders as part of "Operation Condor" , a conspiracy between South American dictators during the 1970s to eliminate political opponents and dispose of the bodies in different countries. The high court decision comes just one [...]

Uzbekistan deputy state prosecutor Anvar Nabiyev on Thursday named 15 men who will stand trial next week for trying to overthrow the Uzbek government. The men, who allegedly organized disturbances in the town of Andijan in May 2005, face charges including shooting hostages, forcing civilians to take part in an anti-government protest and membership in [...]

US Chief Justice nominee John Roberts finished his fourth and final day of confirmation testimony Thursday morning by declaring "I am not an ideologue," adding that ideologues do not belong on the court. Though Roberts' views were again challenged by Democrats, it appears increasingly likely that he will be approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee [...]

The US Senate has approved the creation of a new US Department of Justice office that would investigate racially motivated homicides that took place prior to 1970. The Unsolved Crimes Section was proposed in reaction to numerous cases that remain unsolved due to weak state and federal prosecution at the time they occurred, including the [...]

Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell and Attorney General Richard Blumenthal have said that the state will not file an immediate appeal to the US Supreme Court challenging a decision that allows the Base Closure and Realignment Commission to prepare Bradley Air National Guard Base for realignment. State officials have decided instead to make their case [...]

Thursday released draft anti-terrorism legislation that includes terms allowing police to detain terror suspects for up to three months without charge and creating a new criminal offense for "glorifying terrorism." The draft legislation was included in a letter to opposition colleagues in which Clarke stressed that the proposed provisions were "very much draft clauses" and [...]

The US House of Representatives approved a measure Wednesday that would add sexual orientation, gender, and disability to a current federal hate crimes law that already prohibits crimes based on the victim's race, ethnicity, or religion. The legislation was proposed by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) and passed by a margin of 223-199 . House Democratic [...]

The former chief of staff of the Israeli Defense Forces has called off a trip to London after a complaint was filed in Great Britain against him and other top Israeli military officers for "war crimes." Moshe Ya'alon had been invited by an Israeli soldiers support group to attend a fund-raising event in Britain, but [...]

Opening statements began Wednesday in the second trial against Merck over the distribution of its painkiller Vioxx . The plaintiff in this case is an Idaho postal worker who claims that taking Vioxx caused him to suffer a heart attack. Lawyers for the plaintiff argued Wednesday that he would not have taken the drug if [...]

Three more Guantanamo Bay detainees have been hospitalized as a hunger strike at the prison facility stretched through its second month. Following the hospitalization, a total of 21 are now being fed intravenously to prevent them from dying of starvation. Sgt. Justin Behrens, a spokesman at Guantanamo, said all the striking detainees were in stable [...]