Last week's ruling by the European Court of Human Rights upholding Turkey's ban on headscarves in public universities, has led to confrontation between the Islamic government and the law's secular proponents. Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer , who supports the ban, says the court's ruling was "binding" and should end the controversy. The country's Prime [...]

US National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley refused to rule out the possibility that torture would be used to prevent a future terrorist attack, during an appearance Sunday on CNN's Late Edition, but maintained that the country will act within the confines of the law. The Senate voted 90-9 earlier this month to approve an amendment [...]

The UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) , in its second bi-monthly human rights report covering the period from September 1 to October 31, on Monday warned of human rights violations in Iraq in light of the increased number of detainees held on terrorist-related charges . UNAMI said that Iraqi police and special forces do [...]

Two Bangladeshi judges were killed on Monday after a man threw a bomb at their car while the judges were on their way to the Jhalakathi district court, 155 miles south of Dhaka. Police said a young man has been arrested at the blast site where an unexploded bomb was also found. This year, Bangladesh [...]

The French Cabinet Monday approved an extension to emergency powers authorized earlier this month in order to help quell riots that started on October 27. Parliament is expected to approve the bill, deemed by French President Jacques Chirac to be a "measure of protection and precaution." The bill was submitted in a special cabinet session [...]

Both the number of people sentenced to death and the number executed declined in 2004, according to US Justice Department statistics released Sunday. According to the report, in 2004 a dozen states executed 59 prisoners, six less than in 2003 and 125 people convicted of murder received a death sentence, the smallest number since 1973. [...]

CIA interrogators tried to cover up the death of a man who died while being questioned at Abu Ghraib prison, according to a TIME magazine report published Sunday. The death of Manadel al-Jamadi was ruled a homicide in a US Department of Defense official autopsy obtained by TIME, citing cause of death as "blunt force [...]

President Bush is set to sign a bill this week providing for US military assistance to Nepal if its government "has restored civil liberties, is protecting human rights, and has demonstrated, through dialogue with Nepal's political parties, a commitment to a clear timetable to restore multi-party democratic government consistent with the 1990 Nepalese Constitution." Another [...]

Lawyers for former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic are urging another postponement in his trial for war crimes at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) , which has now spanned four years. After complaining recently of pains in the neck, ears and head, Milosevic was examined by three doctors from France, Russia and [...]

Four people were killed Saturday in continued violence over proposed changes to the Kenyan constitution as police tried to break up an anti-constitution rally in Mombassa, where President Mwai Kibaki , a supporter of the constitution, was visiting. Kenyans will vote in a November 21 referendum for the first major changes to the Kenyan charter [...]