A group of class-action suits against cell phone manufacturers has been revived after the US Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the cases Wednesday. The five suits claim the cell phone industry has failed to adequately protect users from radiation emitted by the phones and seeks to require the provision of headsets with phones, as [...]

Former Bosnian Serb interior minister Mica Stanisic pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, torture and deportation on Thursday to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia at The Hague. Stanisic faces seven counts of crimes against humanity and three violations of the laws of war stemming from crimes that were allegedly committed as [...]

The number of reports of detainee abuse in Iraq and Afghanistan dropped sharply after a series of abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq were publicly revealed, the Washington Post reported Thursday. The most current US Army figures on abuse reports show that the number made against US soldiers dropped by more than 75 percent [...]

In Thursday's international brief, Nigeria , acting on behalf of the African Union , has proposed the creation of an African war crimes tribunal that would prosecute alleged human rights violations and war crimes in Sudan . The proposal was directed to the European Union , whose members have traditionally favored sending the Sudan situation [...]

The ACLU , Break the Chains , and the Brennan Center for Justice released a report Thursday indicating that America's war on drugs is inflicting deep and disproportionate harm on women, most of them mothers. The report states mothers are filling prisons at a fast-increasing pace despite mostly minor roles in drug rings. 101,000 women [...]

Israel's Justice Ministry announced Thursday that Israeli nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu has been indicted for violating the terms of his release from prison. Vanunu completed an 18-year prison sentence in April for revealing secrets of Israel's atomic program to the Sunday Times newspaper. Vanunu, who has lived at a Jerusalem church compound since his release, [...]

The US House of Representatives voted Wednesday to ban the use of federal money to transfer terror suspects to countries where prisoners can be tortured. The amendment, part of the $81.4 billion emergency spending package for combat and reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan, was approved 420-2 and reaffirms the United States' 1994 ratification of a [...]

US District Court Judge Aleta Trauger ruled Wednesday that plaintiffs in a class-action suit against Primus Automotive Financial Services , a lending unit of Ford Motor Co. , has proved that the unit discriminated against black customers by charging them higher rates on car loans. The suit claimed blacks were charged hundreds of thousands of [...]

Protesters in Kenya Wednesday demanded a limit to the president's powers as parliament prepared for debate on a new constitution. The protests came after Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki appeared to hold back from endorsing a draft that would restict the authority of his office. As Kibaki formally opened the parliamentary session, however, he promised lawmakers [...]

The US House of Representatives Wednesday passed legislation which would delay the removal of the feeding tube sustaining Terri Schiavo by allowing her case to shift to federal court. The House acted after a Florida appellate court upheld an earlier decision to remove the tube. The bill, introduced by House Judiciary Committee chairman James Sensenbrenner [...]