Human Rights Watch (HRW) called Saturday for the Iraqi and US governments to launch an investigation and prosecute those responsible for alleged detainee abuse after thousands of previously classified documents detailing torture by US and Iraqi forces were posted on WikiLeaks . The group said the leaked reports detail the US military’s failure to prevent [...]

The UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) announced Saturday that it will re-open an investigation into Google after the company announced that privacy breaches earlier this year were more serious than originally reported. The UK Metropolitan Police launched an investigation in June into whether Google violated privacy laws after the company inadvertently collected data on unsecured [...]

The Center for Biological Diversity filed a lawsuit Friday against Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, seeking to have the deepwater drilling moratorium reinstated. The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia , argues that Salazar’s order to lift the ban without conducting a comprehensive review of the effects of drilling on [...]

The Iraqi Supreme Court ruled Sunday that the seven-month delay in forming a government following the March parliamentary elections was unconstitutional, ordering parliament to reconvene. The lawsuit was filed by an independent group after the parliament failed to elect a parliamentary speaker during a brief session in June. The parliament failed to formally close the [...]

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum announced Friday that his office will not appeal a decision by Florida Third District Court of Appeals striking down the state’s prohibition against adoption by gay men and women. In September, the district court ruled that the prohibition was unlawful because it failed rational basis review and violated the state [...]

The French Senate on Friday approved retirement reform legislation designed to keep the country’s pension system viable. The bill , which passed by a 177-153 vote, increases the age at which individuals can retire from 60 to 62 while also raising the age of eligibility for full pension benefits from 65 to 67. Lawmakers contend [...]

UN Special Rapporteur on torture Manfred Nowak called Saturday for the Obama administration to launch an inquiry into the role of the US in human rights violations allegedly committed in Iraq . Nowak’s comments follow the release of government information on WikiLeaks that included thousands of previously classified documents. Many of the documents purportedly illustrate [...]

Haitian prison officers are alleged to have killed 12 detainees “deliberately and without justification,” using “inappropriate, abusive and disproportionate force” during a January 19 prison uprising, according to an independent commission, the New York Times reported Thursday. The Times obtained an exclusive copy of the commission’s report, which said the incident involved “grave violations of [...]

Russian prosecutors asked Friday for a 14-year prison sentence in the second case against former oil executive Mikhail Khodorkovsky , though his sentence could be reduced based on time served for a prior conviction. Khodorkovsky and his business partner Platon Lebedev are charged with embezzling USD $25 billion worth of oil produced by their company [...]

The UN Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) expressed concern on Friday that security forces in Guinea “committed serious human rights violations” in subduing demonstrations that took place this week ahead of the run-off presidential election scheduled for Sunday. The OHCHR stated that security forces indiscriminately shot unarmed civilians, broke into private homes [...]