Chief Justice Mawlavi Fazel Hadi Shinwari of the Afghanistan Supreme Court on Thursday asserted the independence of the high court in response to criticism from members of Afghanistan's parliament for the release of Abdul Rahman , the Afghan man who faced the death penalty for converting from Islam to Christianity. Shinwari said that the parliament [...]

Omri Sharon, son of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon , appealed his nine-month prison sentence on Thursday, apologizing for his actions and arguing that his resignation from the Knesset was punishment enough. Sharon was convicted of illegally raising money for his father's re-election campaign. The start of Sharon's prison term was delayed until September 1 [...]

The European Union warned Serbia Thursday that it must immediately make efforts to turn over Bosnian war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic in order for April negotiations regarding Serbia's potential membership to the EU to take place as planned. EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said that Serbia's cooperation in bringing Mladic to justice will decide whether [...]

Civil rights, religious and community groups have asked the US Department of Justice to block a law that would require voters in Georgia to show photo identification before they could cast their ballots. The bill was passed by the Georgia state legislature and approved by Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue in January, but under the federal [...]

The Australian government has threatened to overturn a proposed same-sex civil union bill in the Australian Capital Territory unless substantial changes are made. The bill, introduced by ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope , would be the first of its kind in Australia and would grant same-sex couples equality in wills and property . It would [...]

US Rep. J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL) , speaker of the US House of Representatives , has said that he and other House Republicans would be willing to consider an immigrant guest-worker program, which may lead to a compromise with the US Senate over the controversial immigration bill currently being debated on the Senate floor. Hastert [...]

A Louisiana State Senate committee has rejected a bill that would have made it easier for residents displaced by Hurricane Katrina to vote in next month's New Orleans municipal elections . The bill would have created polling places in other states so that voters would not have to travel back to Louisiana. Opponents of the [...]

The Belarus prosecutor general said Wednesday that there will be many trials for opposition supporters who protested the country's presidential elections earlier this month. Pyotr Miklashevich indicated that over 500 protestors, including 21 foreigners, were detained for their part in protesting the reelection of Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko during police raids on the demonstrations last [...]

AP is reporting that the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ruled Thursday that same-sex couples from outside of Massachusetts cannot marry in the state. Massachusetts became the first state to legalize same-sex marriage with the state high court's 2003 decision in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health . At issue in the current case was [...]

The UK Terrorism Act 2006 became law Thursday as the legislation received royal assent. A vote in the UK House of Lords last week cleared the way for the bill to move forward, as the Lords backed down on their objections to including "glorification" of terrorism among the crimes covered in the new legislation. The [...]