Prosecutors in East Timor said Thursday they are seeking a seven-year jail term for Rogerio Lobato, former head of East Timor's Ministry of the Interior on charges of misappropriating public property, misuse of public funds, and the unauthorised importation or use of firearms to disturb public order. The charges stem from allegations that Lobato provided [...]

Rep. Gail Chasey : "I am delighted and encouraged, although not surprised, that the New Mexico House of Representatives passed a bill to repeal the death penalty by 41-28 votes on Monday, February 12. This is now the second time in four years that the House has voted to repeal the death penalty in New [...]

A German court on Thursday sentenced anti-Semitic writer Ernst Zundel to five years in prison after finding him guilty on 14 counts of incitement, libel and disparaging the dead . Holocaust denial constitutes a crime under Section 130 (3) of the German Federal Criminal Code, which provides: Whoever publicly or in a meeting approves of, [...]

Romanian President Traian Basescu has called for a national referendum to allow citizens to vote on amendments to the constitution aimed at reducing corruption. In a speech to parliament Wednesday, Basescu said he would like to amend the Romanian constitution to allow citizens to vote for lawmakers based on their name, rather than by party. [...]

The Serbian Parliament voted Thursday to reject a United Nations plan released by the United Nations that calls for Kosovo's autonomy and for the right of Kosovo to govern itself as a multi-ethnic society. The plan by Special Envoy for the Future Status Process Marrti Ahtisaari was rejected by 225 of 244 deputies of the [...]

A law is currently being drafted in the Rwandan Parliament that would limit families to having three children in order to curb increasing poverty levels , an official said Wednesday. Although the law as drafted does not include punitive measures for families who violate it, it would includes incentives for families who limit themselves to [...]

A federal court in California sentenced two former Enron executives Wednesday to probation for their roles in Enron's manipulation of electricity supplies during the 2000-01 West Coast energy crisis. Timothy Belden , former head of Enron's West Coast power trading who pleaded guilty to deliberately submitting false data to California electricity operators to drive up [...]

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and drug manufacturer Merck Pharmaceuticals reached a $2.3 billion agreement on Wednesday that will settle all outstanding tax disputes from 1993 to 2006. According to an IRS statement, the settlement, one of the largest in recent history, resolves federal taxes, interest after deductions, and penalties on many issues, including three [...]

The Nigerian House of Representatives held public hearings Wednesday on a proposed bill to criminalize homosexuality . The bill would authorize a maximum five-year sentence for any person found to be openly gay or practicing homosexual acts. Religious groups say the bill is necessary to protect public morality, but gay activists said it will violate [...]

The trial of 29 people suspected of involvement in the 2004 Madrid train bombings that killed 191 people began Thursday in the National Court of Spain. The defendants , mostly of Moroccan descent, are charged with 192 counts of murder and upwards of 1,800 counts of attempted murder related to the March 11, 2004 bombings, [...]