Lawyers for the US government argued for the extradition of Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri in a hearing before a London court Thursday. Al-Masri is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence  in Britain for urging his followers to kill Jews and other non-Muslims and using "threatening, abusive or insulting words or behavior" to stir up racial hatred. Hamza faces US charges of attempting to establish terrorist training camps both in Oregon and in Afghanistan. The hearing, initially scheduled for Wednesday, was postponed to give Hamza time to recover from an operation.

The US called for Hamza's extradition last year, but hearings were delayed pending his appeal of his current conviction in the UK courts. The appeals were dismissed in November. Hamza's lawyers say the extradition warrant should be dismissed because it was issued on evidence obtained by torture.

Nine defendants in the 2004 Madrid train bombings trial indicated in court Wednesday that they have begun a hunger strike, joining four other defendants who initiated the hunger strike last Thursday. The thirteen defendants are among eighteen who remain in custody during the trial, while eleven other defendants have been released on bail. Judge Javier Gomez Bermudez warned the defendants that the trial would not be suspended because of the hunger strike, and if necessary, the defendants would be subjected to forced feedings.

The trial of the 29 suspects began in February in the National Court of Spain. The defendants, are charged with 192 counts of murder and upwards of 1,800 counts of attempted murder. Seven defendants are charged with murder and with having belonged to a terrorist organization, while the remaining twenty-two defendants are being charged with collaborating with a terrorist group and the handling of explosives.

Members of the Ukranian Parliament have requested that the Ukrainian Constitutional Court rule on the legality of President Viktor Yushchenko's dismissal of three judges from its bench, according to the court's information office Tuesday. The request came after last Friday's dismissal of Volodymyr Ivashchenko, the third Constitutional Court judge removed for alleged oath and ethics violations.

The court is currently considering the constitutionality of Yushchenko's April 2 decree dissolving parliament and calling for new elections. He has since issued a second decree, which is also under review by the court, moving the elections to late June. A majority of legislators objected to the initial decree, filing an appeal with the 18-judge Constitutional Court.

Yushchenko has insisted that his dissolution decree was proper under the Ukrainian constitution and has said that officials who refuse to comply with his decree could face criminal prosecution.

Security plans implemented since February by the Multi-National Force - Iraq (MNF-I) have contributed to overcrowding in Iraqi prisons, the Washington Post reported Tuesday. A UN report released in April estimated 20,000 detainees were held in Iraq-run facilities during the month of March, indicating an increase of over 3,500 detainees from the end of January.

Estimates of the number of detainees held in Iraqi-operated facilities are difficult to verify because various ministries operate multiple facilities with little coordination. Deputy Justice Minister Pusho Ibrahim Ali Daza Yei told the Washington Post that the Justice Ministry, which operates prisons for convicted criminals, have provided detention space for untried detainees under the custody of the Iraqi Army and that the military detainees account for over 15 percent of the Justice Ministry's prison population.

An anonymous source told the Washington Post that the "tidal wave of cases" generated by the security plans have overwhelmed the Iraqi justice system, which is mandated by Article 19 of the Iraq Constitution to submit preliminary investigations to "a competent judge in a period not to exceed twenty-four hours from the time the arrest has occurred."

Allegations of detainee abuse, particularly by the Interior Ministry, have also increased as officials have struggled to deal with the influx of detainees. The security plans, formally known as "Operation Law and Order" and commonly referred to as the "troop surge," are intended to increase security and stability in Baghdad and Al Anbar province, and were instituted shortly after Gen. David H. Petraeus assumed command of MNF-I.

The transitional government of Somalia has agreed to cooperate with a UN probe into alleged human rights violations that occurred during recent fighting in the country's capital, according to UN emergency relief co-ordinator John Holmes Monday. Despite that, the Somali government maintains that no abuses took place. Recent fighting between warlords and government-backed troops, most of whom come from Ethiopia, have left about 1,600 people dead in Mogadishu. Former deputy Prime Minister Hussein Aideed says that Ethiopian soldiers have been carrying out a campaign of genocide against Somalis since their arrival, but the government has defended their use as necessary to reinstate law and order after 16 years of chaos.

In January, the transitional government began imposing martial law over areas under the government's control, two weeks after martial law was approved by parliament. Somalia has endured a lengthy civil war and several rounds of failed peace talks since the collapse of its last civil government in 1991. In late March Human Rights Watch claimed that the US, Kenya, and Ethiopia were cooperating with the transitional government of Somalia to secretly detain people who fled the conflict there.

Elections held in the Philippines to elect members of the Philippines Senate and House of Representatives proceeded Monday despite reports of violence and allegations of fraud. Government authorities attributed the death of 116 people, including 11 candidates since the election campaigning season began on January 14 to election violence directed towards candidates and voters alike. The Philippine National Police has established special Task Forces to "facilitate the augmentation of police and military personnel" in 32 of 81 provinces that were threatened by "serious armed threats," which the government attributed to communist militants from the Communist Party of Philippines (CPP), New People's Army (NPA), and "other lawless elements." Despite the violence, Avelino Ignacio Razon Jr., deputy director of the Philippine national police characterized the election process as "proceeding smoothly."

Elections in the Philippines are routinely plagued by violence, allegations of vote buying and balloting fraud. Members of the opposition have made allegations that ballot boxes containing completed ballots were discovered before polling began, and that candidate names had been removed from ballots in select voting precincts. The National Police has reported instances of confirmed electoral fraud and vote buying, as well as organized attacks against members of the Board of Election Inspectors and their police escorts. In 2006, Philippines President Gloria Macapagal was accused of vote rigging, bribery, graft, corruption, human rights abuses and violations of Philippines Constitution.