Mexican legislators in the Cámara de Diputados , the lower house of parliament, voted Tuesday to prohibit Mexican President Vicente Fox from traveling to Australia and Vietnam later this month, citing domestic concerns, including the ongoing conflict in Oaxaca, a state in southern Mexico, and small explosions in the nation's capital allegedly planted by guerilla [...]
The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday in the consolidated cases of Gonzales v. Carhart , 05-380, and Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood , 05-1382, which challenge the constitutionality of the federal prohibition of partial-birth abortions . Proponents of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003 argue that the legislation prohibits only a small percentage [...]
Voters in nine US states approved ballot initiatives restricting the use of eminent domain in mid-term elections Tuesday, reacting strongly against the 2005 US Supreme Court Kelo v. New London decision, which held that private redevelopment conferring economic benefits on a community qualifies as a "public use" allowing local governments to expropriate private property under [...]
Ballot measures limiting political campaign contributions and spending failed in two states Tuesday, while measures temporarily barring some former public officials from lobbying succeeded in two other states. Voters in California soundly rejected Proposition 89 , which would have provided public campaign funding for qualified candidates and imposed a 0.2 percent income tax on corporations [...]
US proponents of marijuana legalization took stock Wednesday after voters in Colorado, Nevada and South Dakota rejected mid-term ballot measures that would have decriminalized use of the drug in certain circumstances. In Colorado, voters on Tuesday rejected Amendment 44 that would have legalized the possession of less than one ounce of marijuana for adults over [...]
Turkey's bid for EU membership still faces significant obstacles, including the slowing of reforms and laws inhibiting freedom of speech, according to report released by the European Commission Wednesday. EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn highlighted Article 301 of Turkey's Penal Code, which makes insulting "Turkishness" a crime, and hostile trade relations between Turkey and Cyprus [...]
President George W. Bush announced Wednesday in the wake of Democratic Party successes in the US mid-term elections that Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is resigning from his position at the Defense Department. Bush said he plans to nominate Robert Gates former Director of Central Intelligence for the CIA and current president of Texas A&M [...]
Missouri voters Tuesday narrowly approved Constitutional Amendment #2 , a stem cell initiative that would prevent Missouri from criminalizing the use of stem cells in certain techniques such as therapeutic cloning. With 3572 of 3734 precincts reporting early Wednesday afternoon, the unofficial count provided by the Missouri Secretary of State's office was: Yes votes 1,024,824 [...]
Arizona became the first US state to reject an amendment defining marriage as a union between one man and one woman after voters Tuesday narrowly rejected Proposition 107 , which would have amended the Arizona Constitution to effectively ban gay marriage as well as civil unions and domestic partnerships. The measure was sponsored by Protect [...]
A Chilean appeals court Wednesday again stripped former dictator Augusto Pinochet of immunity, this time in a case involving the 1974 disappearance of a Spanish priest. The priest, Antonio Llido, was arrested by the Chilean DINA after expressing opposition to Pinochet. The court will determine whether Pinochet is eligible for bail this week. Pinochet, 90, [...]
