The Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane has offered a $45.7 million settlement to 75 clergy sex abuse complainants. Some observers wonder how the diocese can afford the settlement since filing for bankruptcy [Seattle Times...

A former US official with the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy charges that he stole over $2 million in rebuilding funds and awarded contracts to an American businessman in exchange...

In the first attempt of its kind in Portugal , two women on Wednesday tried to register their same-sex marriage and are waiting to receive a formal response, expected Thursday. A lawyer representing the women said...

Three human rights groups Wednesday criticized the global aid campaign created to assist those affected by the 2004 tsunami disaster , saying it has "trampled" on the human rights of many survivors. The Habitat...

Three Massachusetts women on Wednesday filed suit against Wal-Mart , alleging that the retail chain is in violation of the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act because their pharmacies do not stock emergency contraception. The law states that all...

France's Constitutional Council , the country's highest court, has struck down a clause in a 2005 French law that requires teachers to stress the positive aspects of French colonialism....

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) on Tuesday ruled that immigration lists barring non-Europeans from EU countries must comply with the principle of freedom of movement and that EU members...

During testimony before the US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on Tuesday, Richard Sticker, George Bush's nominee to head the Mine Safety and Health Agency , told senators that current mine safety laws...

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday called President George Bush a "warmonger" and said he should be brought before a "people's tribunal" to answer for American actions in the Middle East, Asia, Africa and elsewhere...

Lawyers for the US Justice Department on Tuesday urged a federal judge to dismiss Connecticut's lawsuit challenging the No Child Left Behind Act , arguing that the state understood the law's requirements when officials accepted federal education funding...