Lawyers for six Guantanamo Bay detainees filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday asking a judge to force the Department of Justice and Department of Defense to comply with their Freedom of Information Act requests for documents, including medical and psychiatric records, on its treatment of the detainees. The six men, all Algerian, were arrested in Bosnia [...]

AP is reporting that the UN General Assembly has approved the text of a draft global treaty designed to prevent nuclear terrorism. 11:35 AM ET – The approval of the text comes at the end of a seven-year negotiating process characterized by tensions between nuclear and non-nuclear powers. Under the draft, states are obliged to [...]

The US Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the State of Florida Tuesday in allowing the state to continue to require released convicted felons to apply to a state agency for restoration of their voting rights. Florida is one of 14 states which have laws allowing convicted felons to be denied voting [...]

In an unexplained decision, the Supreme Court of California late Tuesday blocked the release of files concerning some 117 priests from the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles alleged to have committed sexual abuse. The Archdiocese had been prepared to release the files as early as December as part of a mediation agreement between the Archdiocese [...]

The French Parliament has adopted a bill which will allow patients to decide to discontinue medical treatment, even if that decision will ultimately lead to their death. The bill , passed Tuesday night by the Senate and already approved by the National Assembly , also allows families to remove "non-responsive" relatives from life support machinery [...]

Ukranian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko cancelled her scheduled weekend visit to Russia Wednesday, following statements by Russian Prosecutor General Vladimir Ustinov that Russia would not withdraw an international arrest warrant out against Tymoshenko. Russian prosecutors have charged Tymoshenko with criminal bribery of Russian Defense officials in her previous position as head of United Energy Systems [...]

The United States submitted a draft resolution to the UN Commission on Human Rights Tuesday criticizing the human rights record of Cuba . The US annually submits a similar resolution as part of its efforts to keep up international pressure on the communist Latin American nation. The US also urged the renewal of Christine Chanet [...]

The State Council of China released a 41-page report Wednesday claiming significant progress in the promotion and protection of human rights. The document reported over 1,500 investigations and prosecutions of government officials alleged to have violated human rights in the country in 2004. Read the ful text of the 2004 Human Rights Report . The [...]

AP is reporting that the European Parliament has approved the entry of Bulgaria and Romania into the European Union in 2007. 8:32 AM ET – The European Parliament voted 497-93, with 71 abstentions, in favor of Romania's accession to the European Union and 522-70, with 69 abstentions, on Bulgaria's entry into the EU. The European [...]

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that he would not seek to amend the Russian constitution so that he could run for a third consecutive term. Russia's constitution does not allow the president to serve more than two consecutive terms but does not bar the president from seeking a third term later, and Putin indicated [...]