Chinese officials say they will ask China's top legislative panel, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress , to settle a term limit dispute between Beijing and pro-democracy lawmakers in Hong Kong. The issue arose last month when Hong Kong's Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa announced his resignation because of poor health. Hong Kong lawmakers [...]

The Canadian Parliament will vote Tuesday on opposition-proposed amendment to Bill C-38 , the federal legislation that would extend civil marriage to same sex couples. The amendment introduced by federal Conservative party leader Stephen Harper would reverse the intent of the bill by defining marriage as between one man and one woman. Thousands protested against [...]

France's far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen , who surprised observers with his strong performance in the 2002 French presidential election, has called for voters to reject the proposed European Constitution in a May 29th referendum. Le Pen has called the document "an instrument of destruction of nations," arguing that it creates a super-state at the [...]

Survivors mourned the thousands killed and urged people to be vigilant against hate in marking the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Buchenwald , concentration camp in Germany on Sunday. Their message echoed that of a similar gathering held at Auschwitz in January. Around 56,000 people died at Buchenwald, and as many as 1.5 [...]

Cardinal Bernard Law , who resigned as the Archbishop of Boston in 2002 amid accusations that he covered up sexual abuse of children by priests {JURIST news archive], will on Monday lead one of nine memorial masses for Pope John Paul II. Members of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests is traveling to [...]

Guantanamo detainee court papers, transcripts; Associated Press, April 9, 2005 . Review the full text of the court papers, organized in alphabetical order by detainee. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

Following up a story reported Friday on JURIST's Paper Chase, Mexico City mayor and presidential hopeful Manuel Lopez Obrador announced to reporters outside of his home Saturday that he will surrender to authorities as soon as an arrest warrant is issued. Late Thursday, Mexico's Congress striped the mayor of immunity so he could be charged [...]

In an address to the San Francisco Commonwealth Club public affairs forum Friday, Brigadier General Janis Karpinski said that ample evidence exists to prove the use of torture and abuse at Abu Ghraib prison was authorized by the highest levels of the US government. Karpinski served as commander of military prisons in Iraq when the [...]

During the weekly Democratic radio address Saturday, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid defended his party's position in the current battle between Democrats and Republicans over President Bush's judicial nominees and procedures used to consider them, the second time in two weeks that major Democrats have used Saturday radio airtime to press their points. Republicans have [...]

The CEO of the US Chamber of Commerce Friday called for the US Department of Justice to investigate allegations of widespread fraud in asbestos lawsuits. The letter sent by Thomas Donohue alleges that lawyers and doctors across the country are engaged in systematic diagnostic fraud, and are bringing hundreds of meritless asbestos claims that are [...]