In a statement released Friday, the US State Department announced that it has extended an invitation to Guantanamo Bay prison to three UN human rights rapporteurs. State Department officials say "the invitation was extended in an effort to broaden understanding of US detention operations" and counter reports that detainees at the prison camp are treated [...]

Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein accepted a last minute offer of exile from Arab leaders in 2003 just before the US-led invasion of Iraq, according to an Al Arabiya television documentary. According to the report, the deal could have averted war, but was thwarted when members of the League of Arab States refused to assent [...]

Portugal's constitutional court has blocked a national referendum designed to relax the country's abortion laws. Prime Minister Jose Socrates and the ruling Socialist party had intended to hold the referendum on November 27 to decide whether abortions during the first ten weeks of pregnancy should become legal. Currently, Portugal has one of Europe's strictest laws [...]

The Alaska Supreme Court issued an opinion Friday ending the state practice of denying benefits to same-sex partners of public employees. While the high court determined that the policy violated the equal protection clause of the Alaska Constitution because it treated unmarried heterosexual and homosexual couples differently, the benefits plans will remain in effect until [...]

Transcript of Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald's Press Conference, October 28, 2005 . Read the full transcript of the press conference via the Washington Post. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

In a brief statement Friday afternoon outside the White House, President Bush called Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald's "legal proceedings" against resigned Cheney chief of staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby "serious", but stressed that Libby is presumed innocent and entitled to due process and a fair trial. He said that Libby had "sacrificed much" in the [...]

A New York appellate court has upheld a lower court ruling banning New Paltz Mayor Jason West from performing same-sex marriages. The unanimous five-judge panel said West "acted beyond his authority" when he presided over 24 gay marriages last year. West was tried for violating New York's domestic relations law , but has repeatedly argued [...]

Robert Hebel v. Jason West, New York Supreme Court Appellate Division, October 27, 2005 . Read the full text of the opinion here . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby , who served as chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney before resigning Friday following his indictment on obstruction of justice and perjury charges in the CIA leak case , was the first administration official known to talk to a reporter about the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame when [...]

Spain's National Court Friday upheld arrest warrants for three US soldiers charged with the 2003 killing of Spanish journalist Jose Couso in Iraq. Couso was killed while filming for Spain's Telecinco network from a balcony in Baghdad's Palestine Hotel. Prosecutors for the National Court challenged the warrants , which were issued last week , saying [...]