Federal prosecutors indicated they will drop manslaughter charges against a Blackwater security guard involved in the September 2007 shooting incident in Baghdad that killed 17 Iraqis.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Court sentenced former vice president Mohammad Ali Abtahi to six years in prison for his role in the unrest that followed the disputed presidential elections.
Aymara leader Walter Aduviri was elected governor of Peru's Puno region—just two days after the country's Supreme Court declared void a seven-year prison term against him for "disturbing public order" during a 2011 protest wave in which he was the principal leader. Aduviri had carried out his campaign from hiding, and only emerged from clandestinity with announcement of the high court ruling. He will now face a new trial on the charges related to the so-called "Aymarazo"—an Aymara uprising against an unpopular mineral development project, which was ultimately suspended. His Mi Casita Movement for Regional Integration and Development won 48% of the vote in the race, ahead of the other candidates. It also took several municipal races in Puno region. (Photo: Diario Uno)
Iraq and Afghanistan combat veterans are advising police in Salinas on “counterinsurgency strategy” in the wake of deadly gang violence in the California city.
Richard Colvin, a former diplomat with Canada’s mission in Afghanistan, testified that all detainees transferred to Afghan prisons were likely tortured—and many of them were innocent.
Britain’s Ministry of Defense says it is launching an independent inquiry into allegations that soldiers tortured and killed Iraqi prisoners at Camp Abu Naji in 2004.
The Argentine Senate approved a law that would authorize the government to obtain DNA samples from individuals suspected to have been born to forced disappearance victims
Eight environmental activists arbitrarily detained in Iran in January and February remain in detention eight months later without clear charges, Human Rights Watch said. The organization called upon Iranian authorities to either immediately release them or charge them with recognizable crimes and produce evidence to justify their continued detention. The detained are all members of the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation. The public prosecutor for Tehran told reporters after the arrests that the detained are accused of using environmental projects as a cover to collect classified strategic information. It is unclear what classified information they could potentially collect, as their organization says it only works to conserve and protect Iran's flora and fauna, including the Asiatic cheetah, an endangered species in Iran. Other sources indicated they have been accused of "sowing corruption on earth," a serious charge that carries the risk of execution. (Image via HRW)
The Pishtaco, a bogeyman from Peruvian folklore, stepped into the light of day with arrest of a gang in Huánuco that reportedly kills victims to sell their fat on an international black market.
The governments of Colombia and Venezuela traded angry words again following the bombing of two footbridges connecting the two countries by Venezuelan guardsmen.
The CIA ran a secret prison inside an exclusive riding academy outside Vilnius, Lithuania, official sources told ABC News. Lithuania’s parliament has opened an investigation.
The UK’s High Court ruled that documents on the possible torture of ex-Guantánamo Bay detainee Binyam Mohamed at the hands of the CIA in Pakistan in 2002 must be released.
