Thousands of women marched in Milan Saturday, demanding that Italy keep a 1978 law that legalized abortion during the first three months of pregnancy. Police estimated that 50,000 people joined in the march to keep abortion legal, a topic that has not seen so much political action in Italy since a 1981 referendum supporting the [...]

President George W. Bush praised US Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito as a “man of character and intelligence” during his Saturday radio address , saying the United States would be fortunate to have him on the bench. Focusing on Alito’s qualifications, Bush stressed his nominee's integrity and reiterated that he would not use his personal [...]

The Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq (IECI) will wait for international monitors to finish their investigation of fraud complaints before it releases the results of the December 15 Iraqi parliamentary election . The International Mission for Iraqi Elections which began its investigation in the beginning of January is not expected to have a final report [...]

Swiss Senator Dick Marty , who has been investigating allegations of illegal renditions and secret detention centers in Europe sponsored by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) , said Friday that he was personally convinced that European secret service agencies have been complicit in the alleged CIA activities, but he lacks definite proof. Marty has [...]

The Tashkent City Court in Uzbekistan has ordered Washington DC-based pro-democracy group Freedom House to suspend its activities there for the next six months. The government alleges that the group, funded by US government and private sources, has provided public Internet access without a license and committed other violations of Uzbek laws, including administrative irregularities. [...]

Two judges sitting with Iraqi High Criminal Court judge Rizgar Amin , currently presiding over the Saddam Hussein trial , Saturday dismissed as "baseless" press reports that he would resign at the next sitting of the court on January 24. One judge who asked not to be named is currently working with Amin on Hussein's [...]

Jeffrey Barham et al. v. Charles H. Ramsay, United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, January 13, 2006 . Read the full text of the ruling. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

A source close to Rizgar Amin , the chief judge of the Iraqi High Criminal Court presiding at the Saddam Hussein trial , said Friday that Amin would "withdraw" from his position, announcing his reasons at the end of the next trial sitting scheduled for January 24. Amin is said to have found the proceeding [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit refused to grant immunity Friday to two police officials named in a lawsuit filed on behalf of 386 people who were roped off at Pershing Park and arrested during protests at the World Bank-International Monetary Fund annual meeting in 2002. Metropolitan Police Assistant Chief [...]

The US Supreme Court on Friday granted certiorari in the case of Dixon v. United States, where the Court will clarify how criminal defendants can use evidence of domestic battery at their trials. Cherie Ashford Dixon contends that her constitutional right to a fair trial on weapons charges was violated because the judge would not [...]