Outgoing Czech President Vaclav Klaus came under fire Thursday for decreeing a mass amnesty for thousands of convicted or suspected criminals, including some jailed or on trial in major fraud cases.

Around 7,400 inmates out of a total of 23,000 were due to be released following the decision taken by the head of state on the 20th anniversary of the Czech Republic’s independence.

“Each amnesty should have a transparent philosophy. But in this case, I am still …

Read more

In what the Guardian hails as the biggest social movement in North America since Occupy, Canada’s Idle No More has spent the last month organizing peaceful protests, forming dance flashmobs and staging events of solidarity to demand that Canada revise its recent omnibus bill, C-45, which protesters argue infringes on the treaty and land rights of Canada’s aboriginal peoples.

Canada’s Prime Minster Stephen Harper has now granted the request of the Attawapiskat community’s Chief Theresa Spence, …

Read more

(Reuters) – Bahrain’s highest court upheld the prison sentences of 13 leaders of a 2011 uprising on Monday, a defence lawyer said, in a ruling that could stir further unrest in the U.S.-allied Gulf Arab state.

The case has drawn international criticism from rights groups and come under scrutiny from U.S. officials keen for acquittals to help restore calm in a country that it counts as a regional partner against Iran.

Click here for …

Read more

BEIJING – China’s top law enforcement official said Monday that the Communist government is preparing to soften its much-criticized system of labor camps, a decades-old form of punishment in which people can be imprisoned for up to four years without trial.

Meng Jianzhu said at a national political and legal work conference that China will end its use of “re-education through labor” this year though he declined to give specifics. The system has long been denounced …

Read more

(NEW DELHI) — From Africa‘s crowded AIDS clinics to the malarial jungles of Southeast Asia, the lives of millions of ill people in the developing world are hanging in the balance ahead of a legal ruling that will determine whether India‘s drug companies can continue to provide cheap versions of many life-saving medicines.

The case — involving Swiss drug maker Novartis AG’s cancer drug Glivec — pits aid groups that argue India plays a vital role …

Read more

Former Mexican President Felipe Calderón, who led a controversial military crackdown on drug cartels, is moving to the United States to take an academic fellowship with Harvard University. But protesters, both Mexican and American, say that given Calderón’s political past, he shouldn’t be offered this prestigious position or even allowed to work here.

“It’s a total disgrace to the families of Mexican citizens who lost their lives because of the drug war,” says John Randolph, who …

Read more

The ‘ugly, ugly, ugly’ fiscal agreement reached by Congress and signed by President Obama this week—which managed to extend Bush-era tax cuts for the rich, raise taxes on the working class and set up a new scenario for a repeated protracted battle over budget issues in just two months—was a big mess for most, but a big win for the fossil fuel industry.

Although Obama’s initial budget proposal called for ending 13 such tax breaks, to …

Read more

WASHINGTON — Despite a late-stage intervention by Vice President Joe Biden, House Republican leaders failed to advance the Senate’s 2012 reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, an embattled bill that would have extended domestic violence protections to 30 million LGBT individuals, undocumented immigrants and Native American women.

“The House leadership would not bring it up, just like they wouldn’t bring up funding for Sandy [hurricane damage] last night,” said Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), a key …

Read more

PHOENIX — Even though convention halls across the country have faced tough times because of the recession and tightening travel budgets, Phoenix officials say concerns over Arizona’s image have exacerbated its troubles.

In a speech to about two dozen event planners from across the country, Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton touted the city’s newest assets, including a light-rail system and downtown university campus. But his speech soon shifted to an uneasy topic: Arizona Senate Bill 1070, the …

Read more

A woman suspected of shoving a man to his death in front of an oncoming New York subway train has been arrested and charged with “second-degree murder as a hate crime” in the second such fatality in the city.

The district attorney for the New York City borough of Queens said Erika Menendez, 31, who was seen pacing the subway platform and muttering to herself before the attack, told investigators that she pushed the victim, Sunando …

Read more