The Afghan government will change a law that critics say legalizes rape within marriage for Shia Muslims, President Hamid Karzai told CNN Thursday. Karzai told CNN's Fareed Zakaria that he and others were unaware of the provision in the legislation, which he said "has so many articles." Karzai signed the measure into law last month. "Now I have instructed, in consultation with clergy of the country, that the law be revised and any article that is not in keeping with ...

Ravaged by rights groups and upbraided by the U.S. for failing to take measures against human trafficking, the Iraqi government has been quietly working on a draft law to tackle the scourge. Baghdad was prodded into action late last year, after the release of the U.S. State Department's "Trafficking in Persons Report," according to Human Rights Minister Wijdan Mikhail Salim. "Let's say it was a tough report about the situation in Iraq, and in so many cases it was right," ...

The jury has reached a verdict in the retrial of music legend Phil Spector, who is accused in the 2003 shooting death of an actress at his home in Alahambra, California. The jury is expected to return the verdict in Los Angeles, California, at about 4:30 p.m. ET. The six men and six women began their deliberations on March 26. They deliberated for about 30 hours. Jurors must decide whether Spector, 69 is guilty or not guilty of second-degree ...

I came to the Korengal Valley in Afghanistan's northeastern province of Kunar to report a story on what it would take to win this war. For the past three years I have watched U.S. and coalition military tactics evolve from a purely kinetic approach to a much more subtle operation informed by Gen. David Petraeus's philosophy of counter-insurgency. In short, it is no longer about dominating the enemy but rather about enabling Afghans to stand up for themselves. If we ...

Susan Atkins is terminally ill; Charles "Tex" Watson is an ordained minister. They and other members of Charles Manson's murderous "family" now shun him. After three decades behind bars, Manson family members Atkins, Watson, Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten have repeatedly been described as model prisoners who have accepted responsibility for their crimes. Parole boards, however, continue to reject their bids for release, and a debate rages over whether the four should ever be freed. ...

Music producer Phil Spector, on trial for the second time in connection with the 2003 death of an actress at his home, is "a very dangerous man," a prosecutor told jurors Monday. The victim in the case, Lana Clarkson, was "a murder waiting to happen," deputy district attorney Truc Do said in closing arguments. Spector, 69, is charged with second-degree murder in Clarkson's death. The 40-year-old actress was found dead of a gunshot wound through the roof of her mouth ...

Chinese President Hu Jintao reiterated a call for North Korea to resume nuclear talks during his meeting with North Korean Premier Kim Yong Il. On Thursday Hu urged Kim, who is not related to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, to find a way to continue the six-party nuclear talks, according to a statement released by the Chinese government. The talks, which are aimed at persuading North Korea to scrap its nuclear program, involve North Korea, China, Japan, Russia, South ...

To figure out whether you'll like the restaurant around the corner or that new guy in accounting or a vacation in Madrid, or just about anything else you've never personally experienced, try asking a stranger who has. That person is more likely to predict — more accurately than you — your future reaction, according to a new study published in the March 20 issue of Science. Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert, the best-selling author of Stumbling on Happiness, argues that people ...

After Christine Ross moved into a brand new home on the southwestern fringe of Albuquerque last fall, she and her three-year-old sharpei-labrador mix, Ruca, went for a walk nearly every evening. Usually, they would venture inside a cinderblock wall where the spiny desert scrub had been smoothed over in preparation for a housing development that never materialized. That's where they were walking a month ago when Ruca spotted what to a dog is considered a treasure: a bone jutting from ...

It's the phenomenally popular virtual football game that has been accused of taking over players' lives -- even reportedly wrecking relationships and careers. The simple premise behind "Football Manager" is to give armchair fans a chance to play real-life managers at their own game. Gamers can choose any football club in the world, take their pick of the world's best players for their fantasy teams and play against other teams on the Internet. They can upgrade the club's playing facilities ...