Two women have been appointed for the first time to Kuwait's municipal council, according to an official source on Sunday. Kuwait news agency Kuna reports that one of the women is a member of the...

In a landmark ruling, the US Ninth Circuit Cout of Appeals held Friday that a family unit can be "a protected social group" under federal asylum law. The court supported the refugee claim of a South African family [opinion,...

Gay couples in Switzerland can register their partnerships after 58% of Swiss voters Sunday said "yes" in a referendum , bringing to fruition a victory predicted by a Friday opinion poll [JURIST...

In response to ongoing reports of prisoner abuse at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib prisons , the US Senate Judiciary Committee chaired by Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) will hold hearings...

The Iraqi government announced Sunday that former dictator Saddam Hussein will face 12 charges at trial. Iraqi government spokesman Laith Kuba told reporters in a press conference that Hussein could have faced nearly 500 charges, but...

French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder agreed Saturday that ratification votes on the EU Constitution must go on, despite last week's devastating rejections of the charter in France ...

AP is reporting that Switzerland voters approved a referendum Sunday that will make the nation part of the EU passport-free zone established under the 1985 Schengen Treaty ....

A UN spokesman has condemned the Zimbabwe government's mass evictions and arrests of nearly 200,000 citizens living and trading in street dwellings as "gross human rights violations" and urged an end to the actions. In a statement...

Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000: Trafficking in Persons Report, US Department of State, June 3, 2005 [report accusing 14 nations of failing to adequately stop the flow of slaves traded into prostitution, child sex work, and...

Richmond Medical Center for Women, et al. v. Hicks, et al., United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, June 3, 2005 [finding unconstitutional a Virginia law prohibiting a controversial late-term partial-birth abortion procedure because it lacks an exception...