UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan defended the UN as being of "vital importance to humanity" as the body struggles to emerge from the cloud of the Oil-for-Food Program scandal. Annan's views were published in a Tuesday op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal, in which he addressed charges of wrongdoing in the oil program in Iraq [...]

Iraqi women face increased violence and more restrictions on freedom in the period after Saddam Hussein's regime was toppled, according to an Amnesty International report released Tuesday. Amnesty found that systematic repression of women common under Saddam's government has ended, but it has not yet yielded marked improvements in Iraqi women's lives. Amnesty's report showed [...]

A spokesman for the militant Forces for National Liberation (FNL) said Tuesday that the rebel group will not disrupt a referendum on Burundi's new constitution, scheduled to be held later this month. The referendum, part of the peace process to end civil war between the ethnic Hutu majority and the politically dominant Tutsi majority, is [...]

Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei withdrew his list of cabinet nominees Tuesday and promised to name a new team after parliament expressed strong opposition to his proposed cabinet. MPs criticized Qurei's selections, saying that the cabinet was stacked with members tainted by corruption and stressed the need to break from the legacy of Yasser Arafat [...]

A Spanish court has issued an international arrest warrant for former Guatemalan military ruler Romeo Lucas Garcia, sources said Monday. Garcia, who now suffers from Alzheimer's disease, is wanted in connection with a 1980 siege against the Spanish embassy in Guatemala where thirty-seven people died. 10 other former leaders have been charged in the case, [...]

Here's a run-down of law-related events, expected developments and live webcasts on JURIST's docket for Tuesday, Feb. 22. The US Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in two cases beginning at 10 AM ET today. In the first case, Kelo v. City of New London , 04-108, the Court will decide on the [...]

Civil Partnerships Bill, UK Parliament, became law November 2004 . Read the full text of the bill here. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chas here.

For the first time since 1954, the US Supreme Court will consider the issue of eminent domain when a group of New London, CT homeowners argue Tuesday against the city's attempt to take their property for private economic development. New London officials claim the takings would be for a "public purpose" in that the development [...]

Leading up to this week's summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin , President Bush Monday criticized the leader's continuing shift toward authoritarian rule and called for the Russian government to "renew a commitment to democracy and the rule of law." In Bush's speech delivered to European leaders in Brussels, he made mention of the need [...]

In Monday's environmental law news, China's State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) has approved the resumption of 26 of the 30 large construction projects that were halted last month for failing to complete environmental impact statements before beginning. The initial halting was seen as a show of power by SEPA and its authority to enforce environmental [...]