The court also knocked back a separate appeal against same-sex marriage laws in California, restoring the right to gay marriage in the largest US state and nearly doubling the number of Americans living in states where gay marriage would be legal.
Together, the two Wednesday rulings mark the biggest advance in civil liberties for gay people in a generation, and come amid growing political and international recognition that same-sex couples deserve equal legal treatment.
The most significant legal breakthrough came in the decision led by Anthony Kennedy to rule that the Defense of Marriage Act (Doma) was unconstitutional because it deprived citizens of "equal liberty" before the law.
Lee Ming-cheh, a human rights advocate from Taiwan who was detained in China in March, has...
Israeli forces have shot and injured at least 11 Palestinian protesters who staged a general strike...
A prominent UAE lawyer sentenced to 10 years in 2013 for plotting against the government was...
An Israeli settler has shot and killed a 23-year-old Palestinian during a protest in solidarity with...
