A Spanish High Court judge ruled Thurday that there was adequate evidence to bring Arnaldo Otegi and a fellow member of the Batasuna party to trial after prosecuters alleged that the two men were ETA leaders. The charges, brought just days after Otegi was released on bail , may have the effect of bringing the [...]

A controversial French law passed last spring that banned conspicuous religious symbols such as headscarves and veils from public schools has improved the integration of students, French officials say. French Muslim groups have nonetheless urged the government to reconsider the law , and a number of students have been expelled for refusing to comply . [...]

A chance encounter in 1970 started the friendship that ultimately created "Deep Throat", Watergate Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward wrote in a WashPost article Thursday. On Tuesday, former FBI deputy director W. Mark Felt was confirmed as the source that helped Woodward and colleague Carl Bernstein break open the Watergate scandal and eventually force the [...]

The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights has announced plans to air TV commercials opposing the confirmation of African-American California state judge Janice Rogers Brown to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. The commercials will air in Rhode Island, Nebraska, and Maine, whose US senators the group hopes to influence. Brown was [...]

US military forces in Afghanistan have released 53 prisoners after declaring that they were no longer considered threats. The release, made Tuesday, came just a few days after Afghan President Hamid Karzai called for Afghan custody of Afghan prisoners held by US forces amid reports of US abuses of Afghan detainees . The prisoners, all [...]

In a White House ceremony, President Bush has formally nominated Rep. Christopher Cox of California to succeed William Donaldson as SEC Chairman. Cox now awaits Senate confirmation, a process he withdrew from when in line for appointment to the US Court of Appeals after the Democrats gained control of the Senate in 2001. AP has [...]

A bill to legalize same-sex marriage in California was narrowly defeated early Thursday by a 37-35 vote in the the 80-member California State Assembly . The vote came on the heels of state appeal Tuesday of an earlier judicial ruling that the state's ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional . Supporters of the bill have [...]

The Durban High Court convicted an associate of South Africa's Deputy President Thursday at the end of a high-profile corruption trial that had gripped the nation. Financial advisor Schabir Shaik was found guilty of fraud in his business dealings with South African politician Jakob Zuma . The judgment, read live over radio and television for [...]

Amnesty International Secretary-General Irene Khan said Thursday that the US could settle disagreements about alleged abuses of prisoners at its Guantanamo Bay detention camp and other facilities by opening them to inspections by human rights investigators. AI criticized Guantanamo in a report released earlier this month, calling it the "gulag of our time." On Wednesday, [...]

In the wake of the latest campaign to track down insurgents in Baghdad, human rights groups have called on Iraqi and US forces to respect humanitarian law when raiding houses in search of suspects. The campaign, announced on May 26 and termed Operation Lightning , is designed to close off exits from the city and [...]