Downing Street confirmed Monday that the UK was postponing indefinitely a referendum on the troubled EU constitution after the charter's rejection by both France and the Netherlands . The vote had been expected for spring 2006. A spokesman for British Prime Minister Tony Blair insisted, however, that the postponement was not a signal that the [...]

Texas Governor Rick Perry signed a bill Sunday requiring parental consent to abortions for girls under the age of 18 and tighter restrictions on abortions for women who are more than 26 weeks pregnant. Before a crowd of 1,000 supporters in a high school gym at a Fort Worth evangelical Christian school , Perry also [...]

Thomas, et al. v. Gonzales, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, June 3, 2005 . Excerpt: We hold that family membership may constitute membership in a "particular social group," and thus confer refugee status on a family member who has been persecuted or who has a well-founded fear of future persecution on [...]

US Senator Joseph Biden said Sunday on ABC-TV's This Week that the US should begin efforts to close down the military prison camp in Guantanamo Bay. Biden, head Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee , also suggested that an independent commission should review the prison and make recommendations, saying prisoners the US does not [...]

Two women have been appointed for the first time to Kuwait's municipal council, according to an official source on Sunday. Kuwait news agency Kuna reports that one of the women is a member of the ruling family – Shaikha Fatima al-Sabah, an architect and an assistant undersecretary at the office of Kuwaiti ruler Sheikh Jaber [...]

In a landmark ruling, the US Ninth Circuit Cout of Appeals held Friday that a family unit can be "a protected social group" under federal asylum law. The court supported the refugee claim of a South African family persecuted for a relative's racist and abusive treatment against recommendations by the US Justice Department . Michele [...]

Gay couples in Switzerland can register their partnerships after 58% of Swiss voters Sunday said "yes" in a referendum , bringing to fruition a victory predicted by a Friday opinion poll . The partnership law was up for popular approval at the same time as a proposal to become part of the EU passport union, [...]

In response to ongoing reports of prisoner abuse at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib prisons , the US Senate Judiciary Committee chaired by Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) will hold hearings on the matter next month. Committee sources say that witnesses from the Justice and Defense Departments are expected to be called to testify on conditions [...]

The Iraqi government announced Sunday that former dictator Saddam Hussein will face 12 charges at trial. Iraqi government spokesman Laith Kuba told reporters in a press conference that Hussein could have faced nearly 500 charges, but prosecuting him on all charges would be a “waste of time”. Hussein's trial in front of the Iraqi Special [...]

French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder agreed Saturday that ratification votes on the EU Constitution must go on, despite last week's devastating rejections of the charter in France and the Netherlands . Many political analysts question whether the ratification process for the constitution can move forward, however, and believe the recent "no" [...]