Iraq Interior Minister Bayan Jabr on Thursday fired Nouri al-Nouri, the country's senior inspector handling human rights issues, in connection with a torture scandal involving dozens of prisoners at a Baghdad prison, according to an Iraqi official. Al-Nouri, the ministry's lead inspector for corruption and human rights violations since Iraq regained sovereignty in June 2004, [...]

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour has warned that the Nepalese government and Maoist rebels must take "steps towards lasting peace" in order to avoid "grave violations of human rights and international humanitarian law" being committed by both sides. Arbour also cautioned that Nepal faces a real possibility of a full-scale armed conflict [...]

Nigeria's Kaduna Code of Conduct Tribunal on Thursday began legal proceedings against Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, governor of the oil-rich state Bayelsa , on charges of corruption. The tribunal, an anti-corruption body that has the power to strip elected officials of immunity, has begun investigating alleged failures by Alamieyeseigha to declare properties and bank accounts. He fled [...]

Walgreens said Thursday it has suspended four Illinois pharmacists without pay for refusing to fill prescriptions for the morning-after pill in violation of a state rule. The pharmacists said their objections stemmed from religious or moral beliefs. Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich issued a rule April 1, 2005 demanding that pharmacists make the pill available "without [...]

The city of York, Pennsylvania, will pay a $2 million settlement to the relatives of a black woman shot to death during race riots in 1969. The two children and two sisters of Lilly Belle Allen will get a total of $200,000 annually for a decade in a deal that would end their federal lawsuit [...]

The South African Constitutional Court on Thursday ruled that it is unconstitutional to prohibit gay couples from marrying and gave parliament one year to amend the 1961 Marriage Act to allow same-sex marriage . According to the court's judgment , if the legislature does not act to recognize same-sex unions, the definition of marriage will [...]

The Japanese government is preparing a legislative proposal that would amend the country's succession law, the 1947 Imperial Household Law , to allow female monarchs. Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said Thursday that a 15-member team has been established to work on a bill to be submitted when parliament reconvenes in January. The proposal will [...]

Defense lawyers for Zacarias Moussaoui are seeking to ask jurors in the upcoming sentencing trial for their opinions on Islam, the FBI's performance in several high-profile investigations and for their personal reactions to the September 11 attacks , according to proposed jury questions submitted to the court Wednesday. Earlier this year, Moussaoui pleaded guilty to [...]

The final round of Egypt's legislative elections began Thursday, though riot police in some towns blocked access to polling stations in contradiction to government promises of free and fair elections. The cordoning-off of polling stations is thought to be related to the success of the Muslim Brotherhood in earlier stages in the election. During the [...]

The Argentinean Congress passed a law Wednesday making all Argentinean citizens potential organ donors unless they specifically reject that status. Argentine President Nestor Kirchner first proposed the bill to his Congress last year; it was previously approved by the Chamber of Deputies before being unanimously passed by the Senate on Wednesday. Argentine Vice President Daniel [...]