The US Commission on International Religious Freedom Wednesday released its annual report on worldwide religious freedom , finding for the first time since the ouster of Saddam Hussein that freedom of religious worship in Iraq is under severe threat. The commission pointed to increasing government abuse and sectarian violence, including arbitrary arrests, torture and rape, [...]
The US Department of Justice has launched an internal investigation into whether a top aide to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales considered the political affiliations of candidates for career prosecutor positions in the Department, contrary to federal law and longstanding practice. A Department spokesman said Wednesday that the Department's Inspector General and Office of Professional Responsibility [...]
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe repeated his call for reforming the Japanese constitution on Thursday, the day of the constitution's 60th anniversary. Abe said that the country's pacifist constitution "needs to be revised as its basic framework can no longer proceed with major changes in the administration system, relations between central and local governments, and [...]
Lawmakers dismissed in February from Ecuador's Congress clashed with protesters Wednesday in an unsuccessful bid to forcibly retake their seats in the country's assembly. Police cordoned off the Congress building during the confrontation. The legislators were sacked by Ecuador's electoral tribunal and eventually replaced by supporters of President Rafael Correa after they were found to [...]
The Nebraska Supreme Court issued an order Wednesday staying the execution of Carey Dean Moore while the court determines whether death by electrocution is cruel and unusual punishment. In a 4-3 decision, the Court noted that recent US Supreme Court decisions have raised the question whether electrocution is constitutional and hence the court's "responsibility to [...]
US District Judge Jay Zainey has dismissed part of a wrongful death lawsuit filed by families whose relatives died during Hurricane Katrina . The son of Ethel Mayo Freeman sued the federal government, including former FEMA director Michael Brown and Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff , for his mother's death. Wheelchair-bound Freeman died while [...]
Australian Attorney General Philip Ruddock said Thursday that the government plans to strengthen foreign bribery laws after a government commission concluded that the Australian Wheat Board (AWB) corporate website] paid roughly $220 million in kickbacks to Saddam Hussein's former regime to secure $2.3 billion in grain contracts under the now-defunct UN oil-for-food program . The [...]
UN Undersecretary-General for Legal Affairs Nicolas Michel has been unable to break a deadlock within the Lebanese government preventing approval of an international tribunal to try suspects in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri , Michel told the UN Security Council Wednesday. Michel traveled to Lebanon last month in an effort [...]
The US Senate Judiciary Committee issued a subpoena to US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales Wednesday, demanding that he turn over any e-mails he received from White House political adviser Karl Rove relating to the US Attorney firing scandal . A White House spokesman accused the Committee of trying to create a media event and suggested [...]
The Oregon Senate passed a bill Wednesday allowing same-sex couples to enter into contractual domestic partnerships with the same state benefits as married couples. The measure covers state benefits including inheritance, child custody, and hospital visitation rights, but does not affect federal benefits for married couples. The bill passed the state House last month and [...]
