A spokesperson for New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch (D) said Thursday that the governor would sign a same-sex civil union bill if it is passed by the New Hampshire Senate next Thursday. HB 905 , passed by the state House of Representatives earlier this month, would authorize same-sex couples to enter into civil unions entailing [...]

The European Union Thursday approved a framework decision aimed at criminalizing denial of the Holocaust and other genocides following six years of intense debate. The end product was described as a carefully-balanced compromise by EU diplomats, which allows EU countries to opt out of enforcing the law if national laws do not prohibit similar conduct. [...]

The Bangladesh High Court Thursday received a petition from a supporter of former Bangladesh prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia Thursday to halt Khaleda's exile, arguing that the forced expulsion was a violation of her human rights. Government sources said Khaleda had agreed to be exiled from Bangladesh in exchange for leniency for her sons Tareque [...]

An incarcerated Chinese activist filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday against Yahoo! Inc. , alleging that the Internet giant aided and abetted human rights violations committed by the Chinese government by providing Chinese officials with information, including e-mail records and user ID numbers, that helped them to identify pro-democracy activists. Imprisoned Internet activist Wang Xiaoning brought [...]

The Romanian Parliament voted Thursday to suspend Romanian President Traian Basescu for allegedly violating the constitution . Members of parliament voted 322-108 in favor of the suspension. According to the constitution, Romania must hold a national referendum on Basescu's impeachment within 30 days. The parliamentary vote was brought by the leftist opposition party PSD and [...]

The Italian Constitutional Court ruled Thursday that the Italian government can seek to quash the indictments of 33 American and Italian agents who allegedly kidnapped Egyptian cleric Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr in 2003. State lawyers will argue against the indictments on the grounds that investigators considered secret documents in collecting evidence, violating state secrecy laws. [...]

The trial of Bernard Ntuyahaga , a former Rwandan army major accused of murdering 10 Belgian peacekeepers and the Rwandan prime minister they were charged with protecting in 1994, began in Brussels Thursday. Ntuyahaga faces 16 counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder stemming from the murders, which took place during the first [...]

The Constitution Drafting Council in Thailand Wednesday presented the new draft constitution, which will be put to a referendum later this month. The 2007 draft, which would replace the 1997 constitution , calls for national elections to take place by the end of 2007. The 35-member drafting committee said the new constitution will prevent graft [...]

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Wednesday rejected a demand by Palestinian militants to free hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the release of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit . In a speech before Israel's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee , Olmert said that the list of Palestinian prisoners, which according to news reports includes [...]

The Russian State Duma , the lower house of parliament, unanimously approved a bill on Wednesday that would hike the penalty for vandalizing property during political or ideological protests to a maximum of three years in prison. The bill was initially proposed in the wake of a December protest against President Vladimir Putin's rights record [...]