US Senator John McCain (R-AZ) said Thursday that information which led to the death of al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden was not obtained through torture. Speaking on the floor of the US Senate , McCain said that the name of Bin Laden’s courier was not obtained from accused 9/11 conspirator Khalid Sheikh Mohammed , [...]

The Supreme Court of Bangladesh on Thursday lifted a 10-year ban on fatwas, or Islamic religious edicts, but ruled that they cannot be enforced as punishment. The court found that fatwas can only be issued by appropriately educated persons and that no one can be forced to accept a fatwa. The court had declared fatwas [...]

Pakistan’s Lahore High Court (LHC) ruled Thursday that President Asif Ali Zardari must not participate in political activities, insisting that the president’s role is to remain neutral. Currently, Zardari also serves as a co-chairman for the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) . The decision to remove Zardari from head of political party is in response to [...]

France’s lower house, the National Assembly , approved a bill on Wednesday to prohibit the drilling of gas and oil through hydraulic fracturing and to repeal hydraulic fracturing licenses granted to companies. The bill also requires license holders to submit a report within two months detailing the techniques used to mine for oil and gas. [...]

The Minnesota Senate on Wednesday approved a voter referendum to amend the constitution to ban same-sex marriage . The measure was approved by a vote of 38 – 27, with only one Democrat joining Republicans in supporting the amendment. Minnesota law currently defines marriage as a union between one man and one woman, but proponents [...]

The US House of Representatives Armed Services Committee on Thursday approved legislation that could complicate the repeal of the military’s controversial “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy (DADT) . The committee approved a revision to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 that would require the heads of all four military branches to certify [...]

Delaware Governor Jack Markell on Wednesday signed into law a bill allowing same-sex civil unions within the state. According to the legislation, individuals entering into a civil union “shall enjoy all the same rights, benefits, protections, and shall be subject to all the same responsibilities, as married persons under Delaware law.” The bill also provides [...]

A judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of Indiana on Wednesday denied a request from Planned Parenthood of Indiana (PPIN) for an injunction and temporary restraining order to prevent Indiana from implementing a law cutting state funding for abortion services. Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels signed the bill into law Tuesday in [...]

The Council of Europe (COE) on Wednesday launched the first international convention to combat violence against women . The group announced that the “new landmark treaty of the Council of Europe opens the path for creating a legal framework at pan-European level to protect women against all forms of violence, and prevent, prosecute and eliminate [...]

A German court on Thursday convicted retired US autoworker John Demjanjuk of helping to murder thousands during the Holocaust, sentencing him to five years in prison and then releasing him pending appeal. The judge found that Demjanjuk, 91, served as a guard at the at the Sobidor death camp, assisting in the deaths of nearly [...]