In Tuesday's international brief, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has questioned the fairness of the recent national elections in Zimbabwe . In a statement issued Monday, Annan said that he was concerned that the electoral process failed to assure opposition parties of the fairness of the vote. Morgan Tsvangirai , president of the opposition Movement for [...]

The defense team for Mikhail Khodorkovsky delivered its summation Tuesday, arguing that the state had failed to prove that the former CEO of oil giant Yukos had committed any crime. "This is a complete vacuum and in this vacuum we must defend ourselves," said defense counsel Genrikh Padva. Prosecutors closed their case last week, and [...]

Leading Tuesday's corporations and securities law news, Enron Task Force prosecutors have asked US District Court Judge Sim Lake to move former Enron chief Ken Lay's trial date for personal banking fraud charges to May or June of this year. Lay's Enron fraud trial , along with co-defendants ex-CEO Jeff Skilling and former top accountant [...]

The Bush administration's top law enforcement officials urged renewal and expansion of USA PATRIOT Act provisions in testimony Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee. FBI Director Robert Mueller asked legislators to expand the FBI's administrative subpoena powers, which allow the government to obtain records without prior approval from a judge or grand jury. Additionally, Mueller [...]

Tens of thousands of Sudanese demonstrators Tuesday gathered at UN headquarters and US and UK embassies in Khartoum to protest the recently approved UN resolution turning Sudanese war crimes trials over to the International Criminal Court. The protesters denounced UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan as a coward and agent of the US. The demonstrations were promoted [...]

Nonprofit organizations exempted from federal income taxes due to their charitable purpose are becoming top offenders for tax abuse and evasion, Internal Revenue Commissioner Mark W. Everson warned the Senate Finance Committee in a letter. Everson said the IRS has found violations in virtually every type of nonprofit organization, and the sector risks losing the [...]

A panel of Arab intellectuals concluded no major steps have been taken toward democracy in the Middle East in the 2004 Arab Human Development Report released Tuesday. The long-awaited report sponsored by the UN Development Program called reforms in the region "embryonic and fragmentary" and faulted the US for impeding progress through its actions in [...]

The International Committee of the Red Cross has urged the US to investigate a riot that broke out Friday at the Camp Bucca prison camp in southern Iraq. Twelve Iraqi prisoners and four US guards were injured when prisoners began throwing rocks at guards and set several tents on fire, according to the US military. [...]

Members of Kyrgyzstan's parliament on Tuesday fell two short of the 50-person quorum needed to accept the resignation of exiled President Askar Akayev . The failure to vote extended a two-week-old political crisis that saw mass protests topple Akayev's government over disputed parliamentary election results. Many observers thought some stability had been achieved when the [...]

Ahead of key Senate Judiciary Committee hearings Tuesday on whether Congress should extend the USA PATRIOT Act , the Justice Department has released new data suggesting that some of the extraordinary powers accorded it under the Act have been used sparingly. For instance, according to the DOJ, section 213 warrants – allowing federal agents, with [...]