Azerbaijan's parliament, the Milli Majlis , on Friday voted 100-7 to approve a March 18 referendum that could amend the nation's constitution to remove presidential term limits. The present law contains a two-term presidential limit, which would bring the administration of President Ilham Aliyev to an end in 2013 after the expiration of his second [...]

The French Foreign Ministry on Friday urged the European Union (EU) to adopt a unified policy on whether to accept detainees released from the Guantanamo Bay military prison if US President-elect Barack Obama closes the facility. The French government has said it would welcome the prison's closure, but Foreign Ministry Spokesman Eric Chevallier on Wednesday [...]

Six criminal trials in four separate courts began Friday in China's Hebei province for six people accused of involvement in the country's recent melamine-tainted milk scandal. The six cattle farmers and milk collectors are accused of making several hundred tons of melamine-containing protein powder and adding it to raw milk before selling the mixture to [...]

Leading Zimbabwe human rights activist Jestina Mukoko has been taken to the high-security Chikurubi prison outside of Harare in violation of a court order that she be taken to a hospital, according to human rights lawyers Friday. Mukoko, who is charged with attempting to overthrow President Robert Mugabe , went missing for three weeks earlier [...]

Russian president Dmitry Medvedev Thursday signed anti-corruption legislation passed by the country's parliament earlier this month. Medvedev has pushed anti-corruption reforms since taking office in May. The new law imposes income reporting requirements on persons holding public office , restricts gifts and makes a variety of amendments to existing anti-corruption legislation. In a late September [...]

The UN General Assembly Wednesday adopted a resolution criticizing human rights violations in Myanmar . The resolution also called for the release of political prisoners, and expressed dissatisfaction with the country's transition to democracy, which, it alleges, has lacked transparency and fairness. An unnamed Myanmar representative in the chamber agreed that human exploitation was unacceptable, [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Wednesday upheld a district court ruling that two Kentucky statutes regulating interstate wine sales were unconstitutional. The Sixth Circuit agreed that KRS 243.155 and KRS 244.165 , requiring out-of-state wine to be purchased in-person, were discriminatory and thus violate the Commerce Clause of the US Constitution. [...]

Jennifer Turner : "On Thursday, a Pentagon spokesman revealed that U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has ordered aides to draw up plans for closing down the prison camp at Guantánamo Bay. The fact that Defense Secretary Gates has finally taken this concrete action is an encouraging sign that President-elect Barack Obama intends to fulfill his [...]

US President W. George Bush on Tuesday issued presidential pardons to 19 people convicted of crimes that ranged from drug trafficking to forging US Treasury checks. Among those pardoned was Charles Thompson Winters, who was convicted of exporting military aircraft to Israel in 1948 in violation of the Neutrality Act of 1939 . Winters, who [...]

Germany filed a lawsuit against Italy in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) Tuesday in a bid to block new claims for personal damages resulting from Nazi actions in World War II. Germany is arguing that an October decision by Italy's Court of Cassation which ordered Germany to pay 1 million euros (USD $1.3 million) [...]