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Human rights and civil liberties

Poll: Most of Ireland favors wider abortion access
Most people in Ireland want lawmakers to give women wider access to abortion, a poll revealed Thursday as senior clerics testified before a ...
Massacre-hardened Colorado a gun control test case
After the annual late-summer harvest on his farm in the eastern reaches of Colorado, Greg Brophy has a few friends over, breaks out the handguns and ...
Judges seem wary of release of bin Laden photos
Federal appeals court judges seemed skeptical Thursday about forcing the government to release photos and video taken of Osama bin Laden during and ...
Obama using MLK, Lincoln Bibles during oath
President Barack Obama is putting a symbolic twist on a time-honored tradition, taking the oath of office for his second term with his hand placed not ...
China newspaper publishes after deal ends standoff
An influential weekly newspaper whose staff rebelled to protest heavy-handed censorship by Chinese government officials published as normal Thursday ...
NY's Cuomo sets sights high on gun control
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's fiery State of the State speech pushed the state onto the national stage over gun control and other progressive issues ...
Famous church's bells to ring for same-sex couples
The Washington National Cathedral had been ready to embrace same-sex marriage for some time, though it took a series of recent events and a new leader ...
Biden pledges urgent Obama action on gun control
Vice President Joe Biden vowed urgent action against gun violence in America Wednesday, pledging steps by the Obama administration that he said could ...
Conn. moves cautiously on guns in Newtown's wake
A month after the Newtown school tragedy, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is moving cautiously on gun control in Connecticut, a relatively liberal Northeastern ...
Trial near end for boy charged with killing father
A slender blond boy with big eyeglasses appeared to listen intently Wednesday as lawyers argued over whether he knew the difference between right and ...
Gun events show divide 2 years after Ariz shooting
Two dueling gun events played out in the hometown of former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords on the second anniversary of her shooting, illustrating the ...
Gun dealers challenge rifle reporting requirement
A lawyer for two Arizona gun dealers argued Wednesday that the Obama administration in trying to halt the flow of U.S. guns to Mexican drug gangs ...
Gulf rulers take sharper aim at Web dissent
Something unusual happened on Kuwait's normally boisterous online universe after back-to-back convictions this week for insulting the emir on Twitter: ...
New day, new lawmakers, same Ill. pension fight
New day. New lawmakers. Same old pension-reform dispute. Illinois legislators failed to deliver a solution Tuesday to a ballooning, $96 billion ...
Prosecutors reject report against Hungary lawmaker
Hungarian prosecutors have rejected a complaint from a Jewish congregation against a lawmaker who said Jews could represent a national security risk.
NRA lobbying targets courthouses
The National Rifle Association has enjoyed high-profile success over the years in shaping gun-rights legislation in Congress and statehouses, in part ...
Officials talk guns, hold buybacks after shootings
The national gun debate swelled Tuesday as Arizona and the country commemorated the shooting rampage in Tucson, Ariz., two years ago that killed six ...
Giffords, Kelly launch gun control lobbying effort
Tuesday was not just a day for Tucson to remember the victims of the deadly shooting that severely injured then-U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. It was ...
Utah town makes arming households a top priority
Officials in a small Utah town want to make sure every head of household has a firearm and knows how to use it, and they want to give school teachers ...
White House tries to keep momentum on gun control
Less than a month after a horrific elementary school shooting, the White House is fighting to keep the momentum for new gun legislation amid signs ...
EU court fines Italy for prison overcrowding
A European court ruled Tuesday that Italy's woefully overcrowded prisons violate the basic rights of inmates, fined the government €100,000 ($131,000) ...
Rwanda gets new UN seat, but world standing falls
Rwanda has been hailed for years as a beacon of peace and economic growth in its post-genocide period, and on Jan. 1 it took a prestigious seat on the ...
Black ties, booze and access marks of inauguration
This is K Street on steroids. South Carolinians will be celebrating President Barack Obama's inauguration with cocktails amid the Hope Diamond and ...
Hagel's own words are fodder for critics
Chuck Hagel was blunt-spoken in the Senate, even when bucking fellow Republicans. Now opponents in his own party and elsewhere are using Hagel's words ...
Sheriff thinks Conn. tragedy a factor in bomb plot
An Alabama teenager who called himself a white supremacist is accused of plotting to attack classmates and a teacher with small homemade explosives, ...