Nation IN BRIEF : WASHINGTON, D.C. : African Woman’s Asylum Hearing Set

The federal Board of Immigration Appeals will conduct a hearing next month into the case of Fauziya Kasinga, a young women from Togo who is seeking asylum in the United States on grounds she has been threatened with genital mutilation in her African nation. The hearing had been set for Wednesday. Karen Musalo of American University, who is representing Kasinga, has argued that the United Nations considers this tribal ritual a human rights violation. The appeal marks the first case of its kind to come before the board under the U.S. Refugee Act.