The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled Thursday that Russian authorities were responsible for the deaths of four members of a Chechen family. The court ordered Russia to pay $114,000 to the family of Zura Sharaniyevna Bitiyeva, who was a political figurehead and anti-war campaigner in Chechnya. She, her husband, one of their sons, [...]

The US House of Representatives Thursday passed a measure by 223-201 that would reverse a ban on contraceptive aid to overseas agencies that offer abortions. The measure, introduced by Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY) , is attached to bill HR 2764 , appropriating $34.2 billion for the Department of the State and for foreign aid inr [...]

The Iraq Central Criminal Court handed down 16 death sentences Thursday, the latest such sentences in a country with the fourth highest execution rate in the world . Two of those sentenced were non-Iraqi Arabs arrested earlier this year for entering the country illegally and for engaging in terrorist activities. Nine Iraqis were sentenced for [...]

Former US Attorney General John Ashcroft said Thursday at a closed-door hearing held by the US House Intelligence Committee that there had been divisions between members of the Bush administration as to whether the president's warrantless wiretapping program was legal. The House Intelligence Committee and its Senate counterpart are reviewing the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance [...]

UK Minister of State for Security, Counter Terrorism, and Police Tom McNulty told Parliament Thursday that an Iraqi suspect subjected to a UK government control order is believed to have absconded Monday evening, making him the seventh UK terror suspect to have disappeared while under the controversial measure authorized by the Prevention of Terrorism Act [...]

The US Environmental Protection Agency proposed tougher standards for US air quality Thursday, recommending reducing the amount of ground-level ozone from 0.08 parts per million (ppm) to between 0.07 and 0.075 ppm. The EPA is also seeking comments about the possibility of leaving the level at 0.08 ppm, or reducing it to as low as [...]

Ugandan Minister of Internal Affairs Ruhakana Ruganda told IRIN News Thursday that Uganda intends to "engage" the International Criminal Court (ICC) in an effort to obtain review of charges against leaders of Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) . Ruganda said that while the Ugandan government does not condone impunity for violators of human rights, the [...]

South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun filed a petition at the Constitutional Court of South Korea Thursday, challenging a ruling by the National Election Commission that Roh violated election neutrality laws for the second time in a month by repeating criticism of the opposition Grand National Party (GNP) . Presidential spokesperson Cheon Ho-Seon said that Roh [...]

Australian Prime Minister John Howard said in an interview with Sky News Thursday that his government will not commit to making changes called for in an official report on eliminating discrimination against same-sex couples . The Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission report released Thursday recommends legislative changes to 58 federal laws to end [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) Wednesday called for Iran to stop using the death penalty for juveniles convicted of serious crimes. HRW said that Iran has executed offenders who committed crimes when they were as young as 15. With at least 17 juvenile offenders executed since the beginning of 2004, eight times more than any other [...]