The parliament of Nepal has unanimously adopted a resolution that would guarantee citizenship papers to children in their mother's name only, even if the father is away or divorced, and require more-proportionate representation of women in the state work force. The resolution, passed Tuesday, is not yet law, but women's rights groups nonetheless hailed its [...]

The Thailand Supreme Court on Wednesday stepped up its efforts to pressure Thailand's Election Commission (EC) to resign over failed parliamentary elections in April, which the Constitutional Court annulled in early May, by rejecting two nominees to serve on the panel. Thailand's three principal courts have repeatedly called for the EC to resign amid allegations [...]

Montenegro's referendum commission Wednesday officially confirmed the results of the country's May 21 referendum on independence from Serbia , verifying that 55.5% of the population of Montenegro voting had voted in favor. Because voters met the controversial threshold requirement of 55% approval set by the EU , the referendum will be incorporated into a declaration [...]

The Law Commission , the independent legal reform body of the United Kingdom, has recommended creating limited legal rights for couples who live together but are unmarried, in a consultation paper released Wednesday titled "Cohabitation: The Financial Consequences of Relationship Breakdown." The paper proposes that a limited category of unmarried couples be afforded legal remedies [...]

Lawmakers in Afghanistan have called for the prosecution of US soldiers for a vehicle accident that killed as many as five Afghans and set off deadly riots earlier this week in the capital of Kabul. The nonbinding motion, passed in the Afghan Parliament Tuesday, calls for the soldiers to be handed over to Afghan authorities. [...]

The Conservative Party government of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper introduced new legislation in the federal House of Commons Tuesday that would set fixed dates for regular federal elections and would potentially limit members of the country's weak Senate to eight-year terms. Under the legislation, national elections would take place every four years on the [...]

A federal judge has denied a request for a temporary restraining order that would have forced the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to continue a housing voucher program for evacuees from Hurricane Katrina . Without the restraining order, about 2,000 evacuees will lose their benefits on Thursday, as FEMA shifts to a program with more [...]

Shortly after a meeting with President Bush, new Iraqi ambassador to the United States and former Iraq ambassador to the United Nations Samir al-Sumaida'ie said in a CNN interview Tuesday that US Marines intentionally killed his 21-year old cousin, Mohammed al-Sumaida'ie, in Haditha last June during a routine house search. Al-Sumaida'ie added that the second-year [...]

Costa Rica's Supreme Court has upheld a law forbidding same-sex marriage , rejecting arguments that the law is unconstitutional. Hearing a lawsuit brought by lawyer Yashin Castrillo Fernandez, the court's Constitutional Chamber voted 5-2 to reject the argument that the same-sex marriage ban violates the principles of equality and autonomy expressed in Article 28 of [...]

A US magistrate judge ruled Tuesday that US Department of Justice employees must disclose whether they were aware of the government monitoring conversations between Sept. 11 detainees and their attorneys. The judge's ruling comes in a lawsuit brought by the Center for Constitutional Rights on behalf of a class of Arab and Muslim men who [...]