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international law

(Encyclopedia)international law, body of rules considered legally binding in the relations between national states, also known as the law of nations. It is sometimes called public international law in contrast to p...

International Criminal Court

(Encyclopedia)International Criminal Court (ICC), first permanent world court created specifically to try individuals for genocide, war crimes, crimes of aggression, and crimes against humanity, est. 2002; located ...

Congregationalism

(Encyclopedia)Congregationalism, type of Protestant church organization in which each congregation, or local church, has free control of its own affairs. The underlying principle is that each local congregation has...

international language

(Encyclopedia)international language, sometimes called universal language, a language intended to be used by people of different linguistic backgrounds to facilitate communication among them and to reduce the misun...

hockey, ice

(Encyclopedia)hockey, ice, team sport in which players use sticks to propel a hard, round disk into a net-backed goal. The NHL long regarded itself as the world's elite, but the overwhelming superiority of the ...

Red Cross

(Encyclopedia)Red Cross, international organization concerned with the alleviation of human suffering and the promotion of public health; the world-recognized symbols of mercy and absolute neutrality are the Red Cr...

Spinoza, Baruch

(Encyclopedia)Spinoza, Baruch or Benedict spinōˈzə [key], 1632–77, Dutch philosopher, b. Amsterdam. Politically, Spinoza and Hobbes again share assumptions about the social contract: Right derives from p...

Gandhi, Mohandas Karamchand

(Encyclopedia)Gandhi, Mohandas Karamchand gänˈdē [key], 1869–1948, Indian political and spiritual leader, b. Porbandar. In 1942, after rejection of his offer to cooperate with Great Britain in World War II ...

Methodism

(Encyclopedia)Methodism, the doctrines, polity, and worship of those Protestant Christian denominations that have developed from the movement started in England by the teaching of John Wesley. John and Charles ...

prostitution

(Encyclopedia)prostitution, act of granting sexual access for payment. Although most commonly conducted by females for males, it may be performed by females or males for either females or males. Prostitution in A...