A British embassy staffer has gone on trial in Tehran Saturday for his involvement in the post-election demonstrations in Iran, Britain's Foreign Office has confirmed. The staffer was identified as locally employed political analyst Hossein Rassam. A Foreign Office spokesperson told CNN: "This is completely unacceptable and directly contradicts assurances we have repeatedly been given by Iranian officials. "We deplore these trials and the so called confessions of prisoners who have been denied their basic human rights. Our ambassador ...

Ailing "Great Train Robber" Ronnie Biggs -- one of the most notorious British criminals of recent decades -- was due to be formally released from prison to his death bed Friday after being granted his freedom on compassionate grounds. Biggs, who is gravely ill with severe pneumonia, is already being treated at a hospital in Norwich, eastern England, where he was moved on Tuesday. Three prison staff assigned to Biggs' bedside will be withdrawn Friday following UK Justice Minister Jack ...

Though the reclusive Erik Prince stepped down as CEO of the private security company Blackwater in March, some explosive new headlines have put him back in the spotlight. According to a report in The Nation, an ex-Blackwater employee has alleged in federal testimony that Prince may have been involved in the murder of unnamed individuals assisting a federal investigation into Blackwater's actions in Iraq and Afghanistan. The individual also claims Blackwater's culture encouraged killings in Iraq as part ...

The news editor of the Zambian newspaper The Post has gone on trial for allegedly circulating obscene material to politicians, the newspaper states on its Web site. In early June, Chansa Kabwela wrote to the country's vice president, health minister and several non-governmental organizations to highlight problems in the country's health-care system -- especially the problems pregnant women faced during a strike by health-care workers. In her letter, Kabwela included several photos of a woman giving birth in a parking ...

European champions Barcelona hope to tie Argentina star Lionel Messi to a lucrative new contract. The 22-year-old forward is tipped to win the European and World Player of the Year awards after scoring 38 goals to help the Spanish club to an unprecedented hat-trick of titles last season. "Barca will always do whatever is necessary to keep Messi happy at the club and we know that Messi has a complete commitment to Barca," president Joan Laporta told the team's official ...

A pre-dawn salvo of at least eight rockets slammed into the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Tuesday, Afghan officials said. Ross Brawn, who has guided his British-based Brawn GP outfit to the top of both the drivers' and manufacturers' standings this season, is accused of reaching a speed of 100 miles per hour in his Mercedes on a road limited to 70mph on May 30. The 54-year-old was clocked by police on England's A30 road at Sourton, near Okehampton, Devon, the ...

Mexican federal police say they arrested 34 men suspected of belonging to a ruthless drug cartel blamed for a rash of violence that left at least 18 federal agents and two soldiers dead since July 11. Officials said the suspects belong to La Familia Michoacana drug gang, which drew national attention when it was accused of torturing and killing 12 off-duty federal agents three weeks ago. The bodies of the 11 men and one woman were found dumped on a ...

In his first public appearance since the "Beer Summit" at the White House, Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates joked about his controversial arrest last month in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and said he likes police Sgt. James Crowley. "I offered to get his kids into Harvard if he doesn't arrest me anymore," Gates said. Gates was speaking Sunday at the Martha's Vineyard Book Festival where he signed copies of his book, "In Search of our Roots." The professor ...

Four years ago, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei kissed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the cheek before he was sworn in as Iran's new leader. Song and prayer heralded a new start for Iran with the hard-line Tehran mayor, virtually unknown to the outside world in 2005. He promised to stamp out corruption and fight for justice. With time, the world came to know the Iranian leader with his signature beige jacket and combative -- often anti-Israeli -- rhetoric. Monday, Iran's supreme ...

Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Moussavi and reformist former President Mohammad Khatami on Sunday blasted the trials of people arrested in post-election demonstrations. Those on trial had been tortured into confessions, Moussavi said in a statement posted on his Ghalam News Web site. "They have been stepped on so severely that they would have confessed to anything else, had they been instructed to do so," Moussavi said. Nearly 100 Iranians arrested in the aftermath of the disputed June 12 presidential ...