Mayor of New Paltz Jason West will face trial for attempting to marry same-sex couples last year, New York's highest court announced Friday. West faces 24 misdemeanor counts for violating the state's domestic relations law by marrying couples without licenses, making him subject to fines with a possibility of up to one year in jail. [...]

Prosecutors in Romania on Friday charged translator Muhamed Munaf and Arab businessman Omar Hayssam with orchestrating the kidnapping of three Romanian journalists held for 55 days in Iraq. The two men were specifically charged with "initiating, funding and coordinating the March 28 kidnapping." Prosecutors believe that Hayssam hoped to remake his image, tarnished by involvement [...]

Leading Friday's international brief, a high-level source in the cabinet of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has told news agencies in Zimbabwe that the administration has decided to push forward legislation that would nationalize all private productive farmland in the nation. The source said that in addition to creating a new cabinet level department to oversee [...]

Following allegations of religious intolerance and a subsequent Air Force task force visit to the Colorado Air Force Academy , the Air Force has specifically instructed its commanders to exercise “religious respect” and refrain from using their positions to advance religious beliefs. The visit was sparked by claims of religious discrimination at the Academy, including [...]

The Congolese government Friday denied allegations by Amnesty International that roughly 65 civilians were being detained and possibly tortured in the southeastern province of Katanga . The human rights organization said that the detainees were accused by the government of involvement in a succession plot to control resource-rich Katanga. Government spokesman Henri Mova Sakanyi admitted [...]

A judge in Paris investigating the disappearance of four French citizens during the dictatorial reign of Gen. Augusto Pinochet in Chile has renewed arrest warrants for Pinochet and 18 other members of the Chilean military. The warrants were renewed Wednesday for procedural reasons related to the judge's acquisition of the 2001 investigation. Among the French [...]

Citing a pattern of fraud at American International Group Inc. , the world's largest insurer by market value, New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has filed suit against AIG, its former chief executive, Maurice "Hank" Greenberg , and its former chief financial officer, Howard Smith. The lawsuit, filed in New York Supreme Court Thursday, alleges [...]

Reuters is reporting that the US military has begun an investigation into the shooting death Friday of an Iraqi inmate at Abu Ghraib prison . The army provided only a brief statement. "An Abu Ghraib detainee died from gunshot wounds May 27 at approximately 5am (0100 GMT) after being transported to a coalition medical treatment [...]

US District Judge James A. Redden ruled Thursday that the Bush administration distorted information to downplay the harm that 14 federal dams cause to the endangered salmon and steelhead of the Columbia and Snake rivers, neglecting its duty to protect the species. The ruling means that the issue will be sent back to the National [...]

Despite the recent campaign by French President Jacques Chirac to push the European Union constitution , thirteen successive polls indicate that the majority of French voters will vote "no" to the charter in a referendum this Sunday. While all 25 member countries must approve the constitution by either referendum or parlimentary vote, EU officials said [...]