An FBI memo obtained by Newsweek to be reported in its August 8 print edition warned three years ago that government officials could be prosecuted for planning transfers of terrorism suspects to countries that allow torture, a process called extraordinary rendition . A senior FBI official said the memo was only advisory and not an [...]

The Supreme Court of Pakistan Monday took up a government challenge to a controversial morals law passed by its North-West Frontier Province on the border with Afghanistan that provides for Taliban-style enforcement of Islamic law. President General Pervez Musharraf asked the court earlier this month to rule on the constitutionality of the law that calls [...]

Indonesia Monday announced the membership of a 10-member Truth and Friendship Commission formed to investigate the 1999 violence in East Timor that left around 1,400 dead. Half will hail from Indonesia with the other half coming from East Timor. The two nations announced the panel earlier month while Indonesia rejected calls for international oversight . [...]

The lawyer representing the family of Iranian-Canadian photographer Zahra Kazemi , who died in Iranian custody in July 2003 amidst allegations of torture and abuse , was arrested over the weekend on charges of spying. Abdolfattah Soltani was leading an effort to reopen an investigation into Kazemi's death. Iranian courts have so far refused the [...]

Two former military prosecutors characterized the military tribunals at Guantanamo as "a fraud" and rigged" in e-mails written last year and just obtained by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Major Robert Preston wrote to his superviser:I consider the insistence on pressing ahead with cases that would be marginal even if properly prepared to be a severe [...]

New York Governor George Pataki said late Sunday that he will veto legislation that would permit women to purchase the "morning-after" pill without a prescription, a decision criticized by pro-choice groups as simply an effort to build conservative support for a 2008 presidential run. A similar bill was vetoed last week by Massachusetts Governor Mitt [...]

The US Department of Justice released its first report on prison rape on Sunday in accordance with the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 , but admitted that most incidents were probably never reported and their numbers ould not reliably be estimated. The report says that authorities verified almost 2,100 cases of sexual violence out [...]

AP is reporting that a Bush administration official says President Bush on Monday will make a recess appointment to install controversial nominee John Bolton to be US ambassador to the UN without need for Senate confirmation, a day after Senate Democrats said Bolton "lacks credibility" under the circumstances. AP has more. 10:15 AM ET – [...]

Mouwaffak al-Rubaie, Iraq's national security adviser, told CNN on Sunday that he expects the trial of Saddam Hussein before the Iraqi Special Tribunal to take place prior to the scheduled October 15 vote on a new Iraqi constitution . Al-Rubaie said Saddam would be prohibited from giving "rhetoric" and "nonsense" but also promised a fair [...]

After US officials applied itense pressure over the weekend, Humam Hammoudi, the head of the Iraq's constitutional drafting committee agreed Monday to adhere to the original August 15 deadline to complete the draft after the committee announced Sunday that it would submit a request to the National Assembly to extend its own internal draft due [...]