Jordan convicts al-Qaida militant in slaying of US diplomat, sentences him to death

September 4th, 2009 Ex-soldier gets 5 life sentences for Iraqi deathsPADUCAH, Ky. — A former soldier has received five consecutive life sentences for his role in the rape and murder of an Iraqi teenager and the slaying of three of her family members.

August 14th, 2009 4 Puerto Rico police officers convicted in beatingSAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A jury in U.S. federal court has convicted four Puerto Rican police officers in the beating death of a man in their custody.

August 13th, 2009 Sudanese who killed American spared death sentenceKHARTOUM, Sudan — An appeals court commuted the death sentences for four men convicted of killing an American diplomat and his Sudanese driver after the driver's family decided to pardon the murderers, a news agency reported Thursday. Sudanese law stipulates that if a victim's family chooses to pardon the murderer, the person cannot be sentenced to death and the prison term cannot exceed 10 years.

August 13th, 2009 Argentina convicts ex-general in 1976 killingBUENOS AIRES, Argentina — A retired general and four other members of the military have been convicted and sentenced to long prison terms in the 1976 killing of a communist activist. Retired Gen.

August 12th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Around 500 prisoners out of 80,000 will benefit from the remissions approved Wednesday by Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari ahead of Independence Day, Aug 14. The approvals came on the advice of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, APP news agency reported.

August 4th, 2009 3 charged in American's death in MauritaniaNOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania — A judge says that three men have been charged with murder in the slaying of an American teacher in Mauritania. Judge Moutapha Ould Said on Tuesday said that the men also were being charged with aiding al-Qaida.

July 22nd, 2009 Ukraine arrests key suspect in reporter's slayingKIEV, Ukraine — Ukrainian security officials say they have arrested a top suspect who has been at large for nine years and charged with the slaying of an investigative journalist. The decapitated body of Heorhiy Gongadze was found outside Kiev several months after his disappearance in September 2000.

July 9th, 2009 Study: Sotomayor tough on white-collar criminalsWASHINGTON — High court nominee Sonia Sotomayor typically handed out tougher prison sentences than her colleagues in the federal courthouse in Manhattan, especially to white-collar criminals, a new study says. Nearly half the people Sotomayor sentenced for financial fraud and other white-collar crimes received at least 6 months in prison, according to an analysis released Thursday by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University.

July 8th, 2009 Saudi Arabia convicts 300 al-Qaida suspectsRIYADH, Saudi Arabia — A Saudi criminal court has convicted and sentenced an al-Qaida militant to death and given more than 300 others jail terms, fines and travel bans in the country's first known terrorism trials for suspected members of the terror network, officials said Wednesday. A Justice Ministry spokesman said the court looked into 179 cases involving the 330 defendants who were found guilty.

July 7th, 2009 India's top court favors death by hangingNEW DELHI — India's top court has refused to replace hanging with lethal injection as the country's sole method of execution, saying there is no evidence it is less painful than other ways. Monday's ruling rejected a petition by rights activist Ashok Kumar Walia, who said hanging was a "cruel and painful" method of execution and should be replaced by lethal injection, which is used in more than 30 U.S.

June 25th, 2009 Al-Qaida says kills US aid worker in MauritaniaNOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania — Al-Jazeera TV says Al-Qaida's North Africa branch has claimed responsibility for the killing of an American aid worker shot dead this week in Mauritania's capital. The Arab satellite TV station said it had received an audio statement from al-Qaida of the Islamic Maghreb in which the group said 39-year-old Christopher Ervin Leggett was killed Tuesday for allegedly trying to convert Muslims to Christianity.

June 24th, 2009 Sudan: 4 sentenced to die for US diplomat killingKHARTOUM, Sudan — A Sudanese court convicted five people Wednesday in the slaying of an American diplomat last year and sentenced four of them to death. Gunmen firing from a car killed John Granville and his Sudanese driver on Jan.

June 3rd, 2009 NYC club bouncer guilty in Boston student's deathNEW YORK — A Manhattan nightclub bouncer has been convicted of first-degree murder in the slaying of a graduate student from Boston. Darryl Littlejohn looked straight ahead as the jury verdict was read Wednesday.

April 26th, 2009 Al-Qaida threatens to kill UK hostageCAIRO — Al-Qaida in North Africa said Sunday it would kill a British hostage if London does not release an imprisoned radical preacher. The group said in a statement posted on an Islamist Web site that it will execute a British tourist held by the group since late January if the extremist Muslim preacher Abu Qatada is not freed in 20 days.

April 26th, 2009 Al-Qaida in threatens to kill UK hostageCAIRO — Al-Qaida in North Africa says it will kill a British hostage if the British government does not release an imprisoned radical preacher. The group said in a statement posted Sunday on an Islamist Web site that it will execute a British tourist held by the group since late January if the extremist Muslim preacher Abu Qatada is not freed in 20 days.