Tajikistan's Education Ministry on Friday banned female Muslim students from wearing headscarves in secular schools. Education Minister Abdudjabor Rakhmonov said wearing the hajib, a traditional Muslim head covering, violates the country's constitution and education laws. Tajikistan is a secular nation but 90 percent of its citizens are Muslims. France enacted a similar ban in 2004 [...]

Official campaigning began Friday for Kenya's controversial draft constitution, on which a referendum will be held November 21 . The proposed draft has divided the country over issues including presidential power controls, separation of church and state, and distribution of government powers. Kenya's political parties have squabbled over the document and an unsuccessful bid was [...]

Results of the October 15 referendum on the Iraqi Constitution faced further delay on Friday, with results now not expected for at least another day or two. The release of results was already delayed once in order to audit potential irregularities . A commissioner from the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq said Friday that results [...]

Australian Capital Territory Chief Minister Jon Stanhope has said the federal government is excluding him from consulting on the next draft of anti-terrorism proposals after Stanhope leaked a draft of the bill last week. Stanhope received an email from Prime Minister John Howard saying the ACT will not receive a copy of the new draft [...]

Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco announced on Thursday that she will not extend an eviction ban, allowing landlords to start making repairs to houses and apartments damaged by Hurricane Katrina . Starting Tuesday, landlords may once again initiate eviction procedures . State law permits evictions if the property becomes uninhabitable; landlords had complained that the ban [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled on Thursday that the government may block Americans from giving financial support to foreign organizations designated as terrorist groups. The group in question, Mujahedin-e Khalq (also called MKO or MEK), has been classified as a terrorist group by the US State Department since 1997. The [...]

President Bush has commended the passing of legislation shielding the firearms industry from civil lawsuits brought by cities, municipalities and victims of gun crimes and says he looks forward to signing the bill into law. The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act , passed by the House Thursday following Senate approval in July, is [...]

Charges of making false statements, obstruction of justice, disclosing classified information and conspiracy are being considered by federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald against administration officials in the investigation into the leak of a CIA operative's identity, lawyers close to the case said Thursday. The two-year investigation began after the identity of Valerie Plame was revealed days [...]

Dr. John Edmondson, chief medical officer at Guantanamo Bay , has denied accusations that feeding tubes are being used to punish detainees. In an affidavit filed in federal court, Edmondson stated that only trained doctors and nurses were inserting feeding tubes and that anesthetic and lubricants were being used to ease the pain. The affidavit [...]

A report, submitted Thursday to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, on the results of an independent UN investigation into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri links high-ranking Syrian officials and top pro-Syrian Lebanese officials to the crime. According to the 60-page report prepared by German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis, the evidence suggests that both [...]