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Human rights and civil liberties

Idaho town seeks to lure gun and ammo makers
This small community in the forested, western foothills of the Rocky Mountains was created as a company town to house workers for the nation's largest ...
Russian boy killed in Nebraska fire laid to rest
A 9-year-old boy originally from Russia who was killed in a Nebraska house fire has been laid to rest, but prosecutors and the Russian government are ...
Obama team trumpets new polling on gay marriage
President Barack Obama's re-election campaign is beginning to express some confidence that the president's historic, yet politically risky, embrace ...
4 Western US states shielding part of executions
A San Francisco-based federal appeals court ruled in 2002 that every aspect of an execution should be open to witnesses, from the moment the condemned ...
UK bans leaders who abuse rights from Olympics
Britain will ban leaders guilty of human rights abuses from traveling to the U.K. for the 2012 London Olympics, a senior British official said ...
Tunisia sets terms for extradition of ex-Libyan PM
Libya's former prime minister will only be extradited to his country if his life isn't in danger there and he can be guaranteed a fair trial, ...
City official consults Ouija board before vote
A San Francisco supervisor says he consulted a Ouija board before city leaders voted on whether to recommend naming a Navy ship after slain gay rights ...
Azerbaijan basks in glitz, fears exposure
On a recent evening on Baku's seaside promenade, throbbing Euro-dance music blared out from an open-air concert as families strolled by. Cafes serving ...
China's city code enforcers accused of violence
A branch of Chinese city governments set up to monitor everything from unlicensed street vendors to unauthorized construction is rife with abuse of ...
Magazine wins rare court ruling for Myanmar media
A private news magazine in Myanmar won a rare court victory Wednesday and will not have to reveal the name of a reporter who wrote about corruption ...
Hunt for trafficker terrorizes Honduran villagers
A fearsome rattle of gunfire from the sky. The roar of helicopters descending on a tiny, Honduran town. And the sound of commandos speaking in English ...
White supremacist gets 40 years in Ariz. bombing
A white supremacist likely will spend the rest of his life behind bars after a federal judge sentenced him to 40 years in prison Tuesday for a 2004 ...
AP, news groups sue Idaho over execution access
The Associated Press and 16 other organizations sued the state of Idaho on Tuesday to force officials to let witnesses watch executions from start to ...
Deportation threat lifted for lesbian Vt. couple
A married lesbian couple living in Vermont who were threatened with being separated by federal immigration authorities have been granted a reprieve.
THE RACE: Polls show presidential race tightening
With about five months to go, the presidential race is tightening, polls show, with voters nearly evenly divided between President Barack Obama and ...
Cuba's first daughter has gone beyond Castro name
She has her uncle's penchant for speaking her mind. From her father, she inherited a disciplined tenacity. But Mariela Castro, a married mother of ...
SAfrica: Zuma seeks ban on artwork; vandals hit
South African President Jacob Zuma and his African National Congress sought a court order Tuesday to have a painting depicting the president's ...
Ex-detainee: Syrian prisons are 'slaughterhouses'
A prominent Palestinian writer who was jailed in Syria for nearly three weeks described the facilities as "human slaughterhouses," saying security ...
Ex-Rutgers student gets 30 days in webcam case
A former Rutgers University student who used a webcam to spy on his gay roommate was sentenced Monday to just 30 days in jail — a punishment that ...
Surgical scars some see as racist provoke SD march
Hundreds of people marched Monday in support of a man who says the letters KKK were carved into his stomach by a surgeon at a South Dakota hospital.
Former Sri Lanka army chief freed from prison
Sri Lanka's former army chief, who was imprisoned after losing an election to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, was released from prison Monday to ...
Catholic dioceses, colleges sue over Obama mandate
Roman Catholic leaders opened a new front against the Obama administration mandate that employers provide workers birth control coverage, filing ...
Wis. recall leaders struggle to gain momentum
Amid signs that the effort to oust Republican Gov. Scott Walker is losing ground, Wisconsin Democrats and union leaders are preparing a fundraising ...
S.Africa's most famous township gets new theater
Playwright, director and actor John Ledwaba gave up theater during South Africa's turbulent 1980s and left his Soweto home to train to be an ...