A British lesbian couple married in British Columbia, Canada, in 2003 argued in the High Court in London Tuesday that their same-sex marriage should be recognized in British law, challenging the Civil Partnership Act 2004 which only accords same-sex couples who legally marry overseas the recognition of a civil union. Complaining that British law automatically [...]

A committee of the Kenyan National Assembly has shelved the latest version of a long-pending anti-terrorism bill , saying it will not be debated until the United States accepts responsibility for attacks on American interests in Kenya . MP Amina Abdala, who on Monday announced the position of the Committee on Administration of Justice and [...]

The sole surviving hostage-taker in the 2004 Beslan school siege has filed an appeal of last week's guilty verdict with the Supreme Court of North Ossetia. Claiming Nurpashi Kulayev's conviction was "unlawful and groundless," lawyer Albert Pliyev argued that the prosecution failed to present evidence implicating him in the terrorism and murder charges. The Voice [...]

Progress in eliminating human trafficking which victimizes some 800,000 worldwide is slow, and countries such as Belize, Burma, Iran, Laos, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Uzbekistan, Venezuela and Zimbabwe have failed to effectively combat it, the US Department of State said Monday in its annual report on human trafficking . Describing the report, Secretary [...]

The US Senate continues debate Tuesday on the Marriage Protection Amendment , a proposal for a constitutional amendment defining marriage exclusively as a union between a man and a woman. Sponsored by Sen. Wayne Allard (R-CO) , the amendment effectively prohibiting same-sex marriage came to the Senate floor Monday. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) [...]

Former Yukos oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky has been placed in solitary confinement for violating a prison rule for the third time, Khodorkovsky's lawyer Denis Dyatlev said Monday. Khodorkovsky was placed in the one-man cell Saturday, after allegedly violating a prison rule prohibiting prisoners from selling, buying, accepting or seizing personal food products, objects or substances [...]

The father of a fallen Marine has filed the first lawsuit brought by the family of a servicemember against the renegade Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas, seeking unspecified damages for defamation, invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress relating to the protest led by Westboro at the funeral of Lance Cpl. Matthew [...]

The American Civil Liberties Union on Monday requested that the Federal Communications Commission hold back approval of a merger between telecommunications giants AT&T and BellSouth until the FCC investigates allegations made last month that the two companies, along with Verizon Communications , handed over customer phone records to the government as part of the domestic [...]

The Louisiana Senate voted unanimously Monday to send a bill that would ban nearly all abortions in the state to Gov. Kathleen Blanco , who is expected to sign it into law. Doctors who perform abortions could face up to 10 years in prison and $100,000 fines. The bill, banning all abortions except to save [...]

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday extended a deadline he set for the governing Hamas party to accept a "national reconciliation" document which would establish a Palestinian state and implicitly recognize Israel. Abbas has said that if Hamas, which controls the Palestinian Legislative Council , does not accept the document he will put it before [...]