The UK House of Commons on Tuesday gave final approval to the Climate Change Bill , which requires the country to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by the year 2050. The bill, heralded as the first binding legislation of its kind, also provides for the creation of a Committee on Climate Change [...]

The Supreme Court of California on Wednesday agreed to hear challenges to Proposition 8 , the ballot measure that amended the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage, while refusing a petition to stay its enforcement. The court will begin hearing arguments in March to determine whether Proposition 8 violates the state constitution and, if not, [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit on Wednesday upheld a grant of summary judgment for the plaintiff by the US District Court for the District of Rhode Island in an action seeking the return of a painting confiscated from a Jewish art gallery owner in Germany immediately prior to the Holocaust . [...]

Eight Somalis were charged in a Kenyan court for piracy on Wednesday after being turned over to Kenyan officials by the British Royal Navy . The suspected pirates were captured by the HMS Cumberland while attempting to use a hijacked Yemeni fishing boat to attack a Danish vessel on November 11 and then handed over [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has vacated a district court judge's contempt order against former USA Today reporter Toni Locy in connection with her refusal to disclose sources for articles she wrote about the 2001 anthrax attacks . The citation, issued by US District Judge Reggie Walton , required [...]

A panel of UN experts on Wednesday urged authorities in Myanmar to retry political and religious prisoners. The group, including Special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar Tomas Ojea Quintana , called for fair and open trials for dozens of activists convicted in judicial proceedings inside Yangyon's Insein Prison . The panel [...]

UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Public Health Officer Heiko Hering said Wednesday that the large-scale anti-malaria effort recently launched by the United Nations Foundation is part of fulfilling the service obligations of the Convention and Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees . Hering made the comment during a conference call promoting the mission [...]

Navy defense attorney Cmdr. Suzanne Lachelier was given rare access on Wednesday to Camp Seven , a special Guantanamo camp for alleged al Qaeda members classified as "high-value detainees" at the Guantanamo Bay military prison. Lachelier is a defense lawyer for Ramzi Binalshibh , who has been charged with murder and war crimes for his alleged [...]

A judge for the Moscow District Military Court on Wednesday ordered that the trial of three men accused in the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya be closed to the public. This essentially reversed his Monday decision to allow an open trial. Also on Wednesday, all of the accused pleaded not guilty to the charges. The [...]

Amnesty International (AI) called Tuesday for an international investigation into the deaths of civilians during the August 2008 conflict between Russia and Georgia over the breakaway region of South Ossetia . A new AI report entitled "Civilians in the Line of Fire: the Georgia-Russia Conflict" faulted both Russia and Georgia, as well as South Ossetian [...]