In the hours before Dominique Strauss-Kahn arrived in court on Friday morning, rumors flew that prosecutors might drop the case against the former director of the International Monetary Fund. As first reported in the New York Times, prosecutors disclosed to Strauss-Kahn's lawyers on June 30 that the woman accusing him of trying to rape her in his hotel suite had lied to investigators on a number of occasions and that her credibility had come into question. Judge ...

Everybody, it seemed, had heard the stories, and could relay the same horrific details about Syrian soldiers allegedly raping women and girls with cruel impunity. There were ugly accounts, told by many refugees from the northern Syrian town of Jisr al-Shughour, some of whom had crossed into nearby Turkey, and by others who remained in a strip of Syrian territory hugging the Turkish border. Soldiers had abducted several beautiful young women from the town, they said, enslaved them ...

Abu Rida barely has time to talk. As he carefully attaches a home-made folding stock onto a dilapidated AK-47 assault rifle, the barrel-chested arms dealer quotes prices to a group of young men looking to buy guns and ammunition. Every few seconds his cellphone rings, as yet another customer places an order or inquires about the latest deals. The turmoil in neighboring Syria has been good for business, as Abu Rida and other black-market arms ...

It was good news/bad news on Thursday for Dominique Strauss-Kahn. The ex- Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund was indicted on seven counts stemming from his alleged assault of a hotel worker; but then he was granted bail of $1 million with a $5 million bond. He will remain under house arrest with a 24-hour armed guard and faces up to 25 years in prison if found guilty of all charges against him. As the Strauss-Kahn's legal ...

It is easy to miss the spirit gate that guards the entrance to Phiyer, a remote village in northern Laos. Half submerged in weeds beside a field of towering sugarcane, the simple wooden structure resembles a set of miniature rustic goalposts. Look closely, however, and you will notice it is strung with roughly carved swords and assault rifles made of bamboo. The villagers believe the gate wards off disease and evil spirits. A modern epidemic now threatens Phiyer and no amount ...

THE LAW HAS ALWAYS MADE ROOM FOR KILLERS. SOLDIERS KILL THE nation's enemies, executioners kill its killers, police officers under fire may fire back. Even a murder is measured in degrees, depending on the mind of the criminal and the character of the crime. And sometime this spring, in a triumph of pity over punishment, the law may just find room for Rita Collins. "They all cried, didn't they? But not me," she starts out, to distinguish herself from her ...

An English Premier League footballer has been jailed for sexual assault after groping and then punching a woman while out celebrating both scoring a goal and his wife's latest pregnancy.Judge Nicholas Loraine-Smith summed up the night's events. "You approached those young women who wanted nothing to do with you. You touched them on their faces and, as the jury have just found by their verdict, touched the complainant on her backside in a way that amounted to a sexual assault," ...

California police investigating the alleged rape of a 15-year-old girl have arrested five people, a police spokesman said Wednesday.Charles Ramsey, a member of the Richmond school board, said the school district bears some responsibility for the attack. School administrators and police apparently weren't watching the area as they should have, Ramsey said. The school said it would hold a safety meeting for parents and students Wednesday evening to address the alleged assault. The victim was found unconscious under a bench ...

A radio without any knobs. A bathroom where a clear display wirelessly streams vital statistics on your health. And a user interface that takes brain waves and translates them into commands for a computer.Charles Ramsey, a member of the Richmond school board, said the school district bears some responsibility for the attack. School administrators and police apparently weren't watching the area as they should have, Ramsey said. The school said it would hold a safety meeting for parents and students ...

Investigators have charged a man with conspiring to provide material support to terrorists and other crimes, the acting U.S. attorney for Massachusetts said Wednesday. Tarek Mehanna, 27, of Sudbury, Massachusetts, traveled overseas, sought training from the Taliban, wanted to kill U.S. soldiers in Iraq and hoped to kill one or two members of the executive branch of the U.S. government, said Michael K. Loucks, the acting U.S. attorney for Massachusetts. He declined to name the executive branch officials and said ...