AP is reporting that the Massachusetts state legislature has rejected a proposed state constitutional amendment that would have banned gay marriage but allowed civil unions. Massachusetts became the first state to legalize same-sex marriage when the state's Supreme Judicial Court ruled in 2003 that same-sex couples are entitled to wed. Massachusetts law requires that a [...]

Former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet can stand trial for an alleged campaign of abduction and murder of political opponents during his leadership, Chile's Supreme Court ruled Wednesday. The ruling was the third by the court stripping Pinochet of the immunity from prosecution customarily granted to former presidents of the country. Prosecutors investigating Operation Colombo, a [...]

Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) , its coalition partner the New Komeito Party and its largest opposition, the Democratic Party of Japan , agreed Wednesday to establish a standing constitutional referendum committee in the House of Representatives. Establishing the committee is the first step towards altering Japan's constitution , as the document requires a [...]

AP is reporting that a federal judge in San Francisco has ruled that the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools with the language "under God" is unconstitutional. The judge granted legal standing to two families represented by Michael Newdow , an atheist who unsuccessfully challenged the constitutionality of the Pledge last year [...]

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that a British ban on parent and children-in-law marriages violated rights guaranteed by Article 12 of the European Convention on Human Rights . A man identified in court as "B" and his son’s ex-wife, identified as "L," brought their case to the Human Rights Court after a [...]

Thousands of demonstrators continued to pour into Kathmandu Wednesday to protest the totalitarian rule of King Gyanendra . Nepali police detained hundreds of pro-democracy activists Tuesday in the capitol city, including a former prime minister, for protesting the king's seizure of power this February. Police detained another 200 activists Wednesday, after detaining a total of [...]

Russian President Vladimir Putin was the first world leader to sign the UN Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism , which opened for signatures Wednesday at the UN's 2005 World Summit . As many as 63 nations are expected to sign the treaty , initially proposed by Russia, which addresses the illegal [...]

Addressing the opening session of the UN's 2005 World Summit Wednesday, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan , US President George Bush and other world leaders appealed for global action to prevent conflict, protect human rights and suppress terror. Speaking to the 60th anniversary session of the General Assembly, Annan expressed hope that all nations would act [...]

The Bush administration Tuesday expressed disapproval of a measure aimed at regulating trade negotiations, and discouraged Senate members from adopting it. The measure, offered as an amendment to the annual appropriations bill for the Departments of State, Commerce and related agencies by Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND) , would restrict US trade negotiators from agreeing to [...]

Rwanda's community-based genocide courts have charged 14,885 of their own judges with genocide, according to the department in charge of managing the system. The Gacaca courts were created three years ago to accelerate genocide trial proceedings, and consists of judges who are referred to as Inyangamugayo, or persons of integrity. Rwanda currently has approximately 10,000 [...]