Johnson v. California, Supreme Court of the United States, June 13, 2005 [rejecting 8-1 a California Supreme Court requirement that a racially discriminatory bias can be found only if it is more likely than not that striking of a juror...

In a unanimous decision Monday, the US Supreme Court declined to impose stricter procedural limits on decisions by state officials to place certain inmates in "super-maximum security" prisons. Read the Court's opinion in...

A referendum to liberalize Italy's assisted-fertility laws has failed due to low voter turnout. The two-day referendum needed over 50 percent turnout for its results to count, but only 18.7 percent voted Sunday...

In a 6-3 decision Monday the US Supreme Court overturned the conviction of a black inmate on death row who claimed that Texas prosecutors purposely eliminated black jurors to fill the jury with whites. Justice Souter, writing for the...

The US Supreme Court in a unanimous decision has ruled that drug companies can do "pre-clinical studies" under FDA rules on an existing patented drug in the process of developing a generic alternative to market in the future. Read...

Some 8,000 refugees from Rwanda face deportation Tuesday after neighboring Burundi declared them illegal immigrants over the weekend. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has urged Burundi to reconsider and warned it might be violating international...

EU lawmakers now appear set to extend the ratification period for the European Constitution after rejection of the charter by voters in France and the Netherlands threw its status into doubt. On...

Citing ongoing disagreements over process, the head of the International Crisis Group conflict-monitoring organization called the initial August 15 deadline for the drafting of the permanent Iraqi constitution "unrealistic" in a Monday editorial in the Financial Times...

Microsoft has agreed to block Chinese users of its new MSN Spaces blogging portal from using certain words and phrases including "democracy", "freedom", "human rights", and "Taiwan independence". A blogger entering those terms gets a...

A member of Saddam Hussein's defense team said Sunday that any trial of the former Iraqi dictator should take place not in Iraq, but in Europe. Giovanni di Stefano told a Swedish television interviewer that he would prefer...