Peter Benenson , founder of the human rights group Amnesty International, died in Oxford, England on Friday after a long illness. He was 83 . Benenson set up Amnesty in response to a call for action in an article published in the British newspaper The Observer in 1961.

Riggs National Bank has agreed to settle a Spanish lawsuit . Spanish courts and the US Justice Department had investigated Riggs for allegedly laundering money for Pinochet. Riggs also paid a $25 million fine in May 2004 for failing to follow money-laundering laws and failing to report suspicious transactions, that time between Equitorial Gineau and [...]

African leaders lifted sanctions against Togo Saturday following the resignation of Togolese president Faure Gnassingbe late Friday evening. Gnassingbe's decision to step down came amid regional and international pressure for his resignation after he was put into power by the nation's military following the death of his father, President Gnassingbe Eyadema. The Economic Community of [...]

The US military has ordered the release of six more Guantanamo Bay and ordered a further 30 to remain in custody at the prison camp. The releases were ordered Friday after Combatant Status Review Tribunals determined the detainees were not "enemy combatants". The Pentagon says eighteen detainees have been ordered released so far, though only [...]

US Army Sergeant Kevin Benderman will face a general court-martial on charges of desertion and missing movement after he failed to report for his unit's deployment flight to Iraq on January 7, according to a military spokesman at Fort Stewart, Georgia. Benderman contends he became opposed to the war, and gave notice to his commanders [...]

Illinois lawmakers presented legislation Friday that could end the current state moratorium on executions. House Bill 2704 calls for "guilt beyond any doubt" to replace the current penalty phase standard in capital cases of "guilt beyond a reasonable doubt." Jurors would still find guilt or innocence under the reasonable doubt standard, but a death sentence [...]

A Yemeni appeals court Saturday upheld a death sentence against Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri , a Saudi militant suspected of being a close associate of Osama Bin Laden. Nashiri and fellow militant Jamal al-Badawi had received death penalties for their role in the 2000 attack on the USS Cole , but Badawi's sentence was later reduced [...]

Struggling Russian oil company Yukos has asked that a US court reconsider its bid for bankruptcy protection. Yukos sought a new trial late Friday after Judge Leticia Clark Thursday dismissed the company's initial bid to declare bankruptcy. The retrial motion relies on a section of the bankruptcy code that is governed by a standard of [...]

Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon , widely known for his high-profile investigations of terror and human rights cases, has urged an investigation into the crimes of former Spanish dictator General Francisco Franco . Garzon, who has attempted to try former Chilean President Augusto Pinochet and al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, among others, has called for [...]

In an unexpected move Saturday, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak ordered a change in the country's election laws to allow multiple candidates to run in presidential elections. The change would allow for the first multi-candidate election in Egypt since the 1952 revolution. The announcement comes in the wake of increased demands from opposition leaders that Mubarak [...]