The number of executions in the US in 2007 reached the lowest level in 13 years, according to the 2007 year-end report issued by the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) on Tuesday. DPIC reported that there were 42 executions carried out in 2007, compared to 53 in 2006 and 98 in 1998, the highest number [...]
At least four White House lawyers participated in discussions about whether the CIA should destroy videotapes showing the interrogation of terror suspects , the New York Times reported Wednesday. It had previously been reported that Harriet Miers, who became White House counsel in 2005, had participated in internal discussions on what to do with the [...]
Russia's December parliamentary elections were riddled with corruption and fraud, corruption watchdog Transparency International and Russian human rights group Golos said Tuesday. The agencies cited instances of official pressure on voters and suspiciously high turnout figures in a Moscow news conference questioning the integrity of the election. They said that in some instances, election officials [...]
Ayodele Fayose , the former governor of the Nigerian state of Ekiti has been arraigned on corruption charges in Nigeria , court officials said Tuesday. Fayose is accused of embezzling 1.2 billion naira in state funds, among other charges. He was arrested last week after surrendering himself to Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) [...]
The Hungarian parliament Monday voted 185 to 164 to recognize civil partnerships between same-sex couples, giving them the same inheritance, tax, and financial rights as married heterosexual couples. Same-sex couples will not, however, be able to adopt children. Nine parliamentarians abstained from voting. The new law will take effect in January 2009. Reuters has more. [...]
The UN General Assembly Tuesday voted 104-54 with 29 abstentions in favor of a resolution calling for a worldwide moratorium on the death penalty . Though non-binding, supporters of the resolution believe international opinion against capital punishment is growing. The US voted against the resolution, joining with Syria, Iran, China and other nations against Israel, [...]
The European Court of Justice ruled against a Swedish trade union Tuesday, finding that it illegally blocked a Latvian construction company from completing a job in Sweden when the company refused to pay its Latvian workers higher Swedish wages. The Court held that unions cannot force foreign companies to observe local wage deals, a decision [...]
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Tuesday voted to relax media ownership rules , overturning a 32-year-old rule barring media companies from owning both a newspaper and a television station in any one of the top 20 media markets in the nation. Passed in 1975, the original rule was intended to foster competition and ensure a [...]
A US military judge ruled Monday that Yemeni Guantanamo Bay detainee Salim Ahmed Hamdan is due a hearing to settle his alleged status as a prisoner of war (POW) under the Geneva Conventions and that the determination by a Combatant Status Review Tribunal (CSRT) that he was an "enemy combatant" was no substitute for that. [...]
The Election Commission of Pakistan has refused to consider an appeal by former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif against an earlier ruling declaring him ineligible to run in January 8 parliamentary elections , Pakistani media reported Tuesday, quoting a commission spokesman. The basis for the appeal's rejection was not immediately made public, but the original [...]
