The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Wednesday upheld a lower court's ruling and dismissed a lawsuit brought by parents who were angered by a sex survey given to their students in a California school district. The three-judge panel rejected the parents' contention that they have the exclusive right to inform their children [...]

The European Commission said Thursday that it plans to investigate allegations that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is using a Soviet-era compound in eastern Europe as part of a secret prison system to hide and interrogate al Qaeda suspects. The allegations stem from a Washington Post report Wednesday which quoted former and current intelligence officers [...]

Azerbaijan officials have agreed to allow Soviet-era passports to be used as identification for upcoming elections in an attempt to avoid controversy over a headscarf ban for new ID photo cards. The government announced the change in policy after a group representing thousands of Muslim women said that many would not be able to vote [...]

US Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has outlined plans to increase security along US borders by hiring more federal agents, constructing additional fences and ending policies that allow illegal immigrants to be released in the US. Chertoff announced the plans during a speech at a forum of business leaders on Wednesday in Houston. Chertoff warned [...]

JURIST Guest Columnist Allen Rostron of the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law says that new federal legislation immunizing gun makers from tort liability might protect them, but not the innocent people who are so often victims of gun crime… Americans have always cherished certain ideals about our justice system. You may win or [...]

JURIST Contributing Editor Mary Ellen O’Connell of Notre Dame Law School says passing the McCain Amendment prohibiting coercive interrogation practices would be an important step forward towards re-establishing America's reputation for respecting the rule of law, and could open the door to prosecutions of senior officials who, far beyond lying, have authorized the cruel, inhuman, [...]

Saudi Arabia King Abdullah has urged President Bush to release Saddam Hussein's half-brother from detention because of failing health, Saudi Arabia daily Al-Riyadh reported Wednesday. King Abdullah reportedly sent a letter to Bush asking him to release Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti , one of seven former officials currently standing trial with Hussein for the killing of [...]

The interim government in Haiti has sued former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in US federal court for his alleged embezzlement of millions of dollars from the country's treasury and a state-owned telephone company. The suit, filed by several US law firms on behalf of Haiti's government, accuses the former leader and eight others of transferring stolen [...]

The US has circulated a draft UN Security Council resolution that would extend the UN mandate of the 180,000-strong multinational force currently in Iraq for another year. The US-led force was originally authorized in May 2004 under UN Security Council Resolution 1546 . The latest draft, which the US proposed on Wednesday, is expected to [...]

An advisory group created by the Scottish Consumer Council has called for reforms to the country's civil law system that would make the system less costly and more efficient. Scotland's civil law system deals with family, property and other similar issues, but the advisory group has argued that high costs make it impractical for low [...]