The US Senate failed Thursday to advance a vote on a bill to repeal the military’s controversial “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy (DADT) , which prohibits openly gay men and women from serving in the armed forces. The Senate fell three votes short of the 60 votes necessary to approve a cloture motion on a [...]

Officials at Virginia Tech acted unlawfully by waiting too long to notify students during the 2007 shootings , according to a report released Thursday by the US Department of Education . According to the report, Virginia Tech officials failed to comply with the Clery Act , which requires universities to disclose crime statistics and communication [...]

Thailand’s Constitutional Court on Thursday dismissed a second case against the ruling Democrat Party for alleged misuse of campaign funds. The court voted 4-3 to dismiss the case on procedural grounds, allowing the ruling part to escape dissolution. If the suit had been successful, the Democratic Party would have been dissolved and party leaders, including [...]

A judge for the US District Court for the Northern District of California on Wednesday dismissed a challenge to California’s affirmative action ban in public university admissions. The ban, approved by voters in 1996 as Proposition 209 , prohibits discrimination or preferential treatment to any individual on the basis of race, sex, national origin and [...]

A judge for the US District Court for the District of New Jersey on Wednesday granted a motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by a physician organization challenging the constitutionality of the recently enacted health care reform law . Nonprofit New Jersey Physicians, Inc. filed the complaint in March, arguing that the new federal health [...]

The US House of Representatives on Wednesday approved a bill that would provide a path to permanent resident status for some high school graduates who enter the military or enroll in a college degree program. The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act, or DREAM Act, would amend the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant [...]

US President Barack Obama on Wednesday signed a bill authorizing funds for a settlement with minority farmers over discrimination claims. The settlements include $3.4 billion to resolve claims that the Department of the Interior (DOI) mismanaged funds held in trust for American Indian landowners and $1.2 billion for African American farmers claiming they suffered racial [...]

The US House of Representatives voted 212-206 Wednesday in favor of a defense spending bill that includes a provision preventing Guantanamo Bay detainees from being transferred to the US for trial. The legislation would block Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the other accused 9/11 conspirators from being tried in a US civilian court. US Attorney General [...]

A South Korean regulator said Wednesday that Facebook is not in compliance with the nation’s data privacy laws and must more earnestly seek consent from users before accessing their personal information. The Korean Communications Commission generally criticised Facebook’s privacy policy, handling of personal information and the use of personal data of third parties. In particular, [...]

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Tuesday filed an appeal with the US Supreme Court to overturn a ruling dismissing its suit over the CIA’s extraordinary rendition program . In a September en banc rehearing, the full US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s decision to dismiss the suit [...]