Former Illinois Governor George Ryan , who made national headlines and won praise in some quarters in January 2003 when just before leaving office he commuted the executions of all Illinois inmates then on death row , will go on trial Monday in Chicago on 22 counts of corruption and fraud . The charges against [...]

The head of a support group for families of Kuwaiti prisoners held by the US at the Guantanamo Bay military prison has said that American authorities have agreed to release five of the remaining eleven Kuwait prisoners held at the facility, but have not yet agreed to a timetable for their transfer. Khalid al-Ouda expressed [...]

Afghans voted in their first parliamentary elections in decades Sunday, without the significant violence feared by officials . Anti-government Taliban fighters had agreed not to attack civilian voters, but warned people to stay away from areas where militants may attack security forces and foreign troops . In the last 6 months, militants have killed seven [...]

Widespread hunger strikes at the US military prison camp at Guantanamo Bay are troubling senior US commanders and presenting serious challenges in managing the detainees, the New York Times reported Sunday. As many as 200 detainees or more than 1/3 of the camp's population, have refused food recently to protest prison conditions and their extended [...]

Iraq's National Assembly Sunday signed off on what a senior lawmaker called the absolute final draft of the country's proposed permanent constitution , and said the text had been turned over to the UN for printing. Deputy National Assembly speaker Hussain al-Shahristani told reporters "There is no way there will be any changes now… The [...]

Iran cautioned the International Atomic Energy Agency Sunday that a referral to the UN Security Council may encourage Tehran to begin uranium enrichment. Iran broke seals at a uranium conversion plant in August, prompting international concern . The IAEA board of governors meets Monday to vote whether to recommend Iran to the Security Council for [...]

Chilean President Ricardo Lagos enacted a new constitution for his country Saturday designed to improve the nation's democratic system. Chile's previous constitution was approved in a controversial referendum in 1980 under the military rule of General Augusto Pinochet . The new constitution , approved by Chile's Congress in July, reduces the presidential term from 6 [...]

Nigerian President and current African Union chair Olusegun Obasanjo told the UN General Assembly Saturday at the opening of its regular 60th anniversary session that former Liberian president Charles Taylor, indicted by the Special Court for Sierra Leone on 17 counts of war crimes committed during his 15-year rule, should for now stay in exile [...]

A day after leaders attending the 2005 World Summit endorsed a modest package of UN reforms and policy initiatives, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan Saturday pledged he would follow-though on what had been achieved, but warned of significant challenges ahead. Addressing the opening of the ministerial phase of the UN General Assembly 60th anniversary session, [...]

A lawyer for Tariq Aziz says that an international petition has been started calling for the release of the former Iraqi Foreign Minister and Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister, currently being held by the US in Iraq without charge and with no prospect of immediate trial. Aziz turned himself in shortly after the fall of Baghdad [...]