Voters in Nashville, Tennessee -- a city that has seen a dramatic increase in its immigrant population -- rejected a measure Thursday that would have made English the only language used for government business in its metropolitan area. With all 173 precincts reporting, 41,752 voters, or nearly 57 percent, voted against the proposed amendment, with 32,144 voters supporting it, according to unofficial results posted on the Nashville city government Web site. "No person shall have a right to government ...

Iran's supreme leader delivered an impassioned defense of the Islamic Republic on Friday, insisting a majority of Iranians had faith in the existing establishment and issuing a "religious ultimatum" to protesters to end days of street demonstrations triggered by last week's presidential election. Addressing a large crowd at Tehran University, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the historic voter turnout of 85 percent legitimized the Islamic system and had been a clear demonstration of the Iranian people's trust in the regime. He ...

On January 9, the President-elect's spokesman Robert Gibbs gave a rare one-word answer. Asked if Barack Obama would "get rid" of the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, which prohibits gays from serving openly, Gibbs replied firmly, "Yes." Ever since, the relationship between the President and his gay and lesbian supporters has only gotten more complicated. Soldiers continue to be discharged from the military for being openly gay, and activists have voiced increasing concern over the administration's lack ...

On May 13, Beijing lawyer Li Chunfu went to the southwestern city of Chongqing with a colleague to meet with the family of a man who died in a labor camp. While meeting with the family, Li and lawyer Zhang Kai were detained by police. Li was chained to a chair and punched, while Zhang, also roughed up during their arrest, was locked in a cage. Their transgression? They were representing the family of Jiang Xiqing, a man who belonged to the banned Falun Gong spiritual ...

More than two dozen Mexican public servants, including 10 mayors and several police chiefs, allegedly linked to illicit drugs and organized crime were arrested in simultaneous raids in Michoacan state, its governor said. The secrecy leading up to the arrests was so extensive, Gov. Leonel Godoy said, that even he did not know about them until after they began. A major drug cartel, the Michoacan Family, was a focus of the six-month investigation, a spokesman for the federal attorney ...

The trial of Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi -- a proceeding that nine Nobel laureates have called "a mockery" -- entered its second day Tuesday. Prosecutors continued their questioning of the 22 witnesses they have called. Two of Suu Kyi's maids and an American man who recently swam to her lakeside home also are on trial. At the end of the first day, Monday, the court had heard from only two of the witnesses. Diplomatic sources say ...

European intelligence agencies are on alert for new al Qaeda terrorist plots following the arrest of two men at an Italian port and investigations into the activities of an alleged al Qaeda network based in Brussels. The two are closely tied to a Brussels-based al Qaeda recruiting network, Belgian counter-terrorism officials have told CNN. They are Bassam Ayachi, 62, and Raphael Gendron, 33 -- and they were detained in the port of Bari on November 11 last year after allegedly ...

To its fans, paintball may seem like a harmless enough sport, a game of skill and tactics in which teams of players shoot colored paint pellets at one another. But under controversial new gun laws and other measures being considered by the German government, games that are deemed to "simulate the killing" of your opponent — which, according to some, could include paintball — may be banned. "This is about a ban on degrading games in which ...

"Testimony from the grave." That's what prosecutors are calling a key part of their strategy against Drew Peterson, the former Illinois police officer arrested last week on charges that he murdered the third of his four wives. It may sound like just another melodramatic turn in the tabloid tale of Peterson, who has been under a cloud of suspicion since his petite fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, disappeared in the fall of 2007 after reportedly telling relatives that she wanted ...

Deported Nazi war crimes suspect John Demjanjuk arrived in Germany on Tuesday after he was removed from his home in Ohio on Monday. He landed at the Munich airport about 9 a.m. local time Tuesday (0700 GMT). He had been taken by ambulance to the airport in Cleveland, Ohio. A Gulfstream jet carrying Demjanjuk departed about 7 p.m. ET (0100 GMT Tuesday). Demjanjuk, 89, is wanted by German authorities for his alleged involvement during World War II in killings at ...