Czech Republic President Vaclav Klaus has vetoed a bill that would provide same-sex partners with access to medical information, property inheritance, and the right to raise children equal to that of married couples, among other things. Klaus' veto was expected , and the president said Thursday that the veto was an outgrowth of his view [...]

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US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Thursday reaffirmed the US commitment to ending what she called the "genocide" in Sudan's troubled Darfur region, telling members of the House International Relations Committee that "the United States is appalled by the ongoing atrocities that have persisted" there. Senior US officials first described the Darfur situation as genocide [...]

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Leading Friday's environmental law news, the US Environmental Protection Agency has begun efforts to secure a multilateral agreement to reduce air pollution in the central US. The Blue Skyways Collaborative was introduced at a meeting of representatives from the EPA, 8 states, corporate interests, agriculture associations, environmental groups, Canada and Mexico. Blue Skyways, which roughly [...]

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United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has called for the United States to close its Guantanamo Bay detention facility as soon as possible, reiterating the conclusions of a 54 page report released Thursday by a UN-appointed independent panel. Annan said:There is a lot in the report, and I cannot say that I necessarily agree with everything [...]

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The Republican leaders of two key Congressional committees said Thursday that they would not undertake direct probes of the president's NSA warrantless surveillance program . The US House Intelligence Committee said it would conduct a review of federal surveillance laws but its members are already disagreeing about the scope of their inquiry. Rep. Heather Wilson [...]

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Leading Friday's international brief, four high profile Egyptian judges who spoke out against fellow colleagues accused of rigging votes in last year's presidential elections have been stripped of judicial immunity and are scheduled to be questioned by Egyptian police officials on charges of slander against government officials. The judges, including the deputy judge of the [...]

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