The Swedish Parliament on Thursday voted 131-130 to approve a resolution that recognizes the Ottoman Empire's killing of Armenians between 1915 and 1923 as genocide . Of the 349 assembly members, 88 were absent . The resolution was opposed by the ruling center-right coalition and supported by the opposition left. It passed when several members [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled Thursday that a teacher-led recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools does not violate the constitution. Sacramento atheist Michael Newdow had challenged the practice on behalf of several families, arguing that the phrase "under God" violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment [...]
The US House of Representatives voted Thursday to impeach federal judge Thomas Porteous of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana . The case will now proceed to the US Senate where a two-thirds majority is required to convict Porteous of committing high crimes and misdemeanors while in office, specifically perjury and [...]
The US State Department (DOS) on Thursday released its 2009 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices . Announcing the release , Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that the US has recommitted "to continue the hard work of making human rights a human reality." In its introduction to the reports, which covered 194 countries, the [...]
A group of delegates from the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) of the International Criminal Court (ICC) concluded a meeting in Moscow Wednesday over Russian claims of war crimes committed by Georgia during the South Ossetia conflict in August 2008. The meeting, which was not attended by chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo , was held at [...]
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Wednesday that recently announced election laws in Myanmar do not meet international standards for an inclusive political process, in particular because they do not allow pro-democracy opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to participate. Ban's statement was issued the same day the ruling military junta introduced the Political Parties Registration [...]
The Cambodian parliament passed a controversial anti-corruption bill Wednesday meant to further transparency in government while opposition parties staged a walkout, saying the new law would stifle criticism and foster corruption. The law will create a national anti-corruption council to oversee investigators, but critics have said that the lack of independence from the government is [...]
The Virginia General Assembly on Wednesday passed a bill that will ban any federal mandate for individuals to have health insurance. The bill, called the Virginia Health Care Freedom Act, is the first of its kind passed by any state, and says that no individual shall be held liable if they refuse to sign up [...]
A bill to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 38.2-3430.1:1, relating to individual accident and sickness insurance coverage, Virginia General Assembly, March 10, 2010 . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here. Latest commentary available here. JURIST has more on federal health care reform.
Kenneth Green : "China's agreement to accept the "non-binding" greenhouse gas reduction goals of the Copenhagen Accord is a combination public relations ploy, and an effort to ensure that western wealth continues to flow to China for the construction of low-cost "renewable" energy systems such as wind turbines and solar panels. As the world's largest [...]
