Leading Thursday's states brief, the California Senate by a 21-15 vote approved legislation today that would legalize same-sex marriages. Bill sponsor Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, plans to bring the bill up in the state Assembly on Tuesday. Last June the Assembly narrowly rejected a same-sex marriage bill . Commenting on the bill's passage, Senator [...]

Speaking at a press conference in Baton Rouge, Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco has said she has asked for "no less than 40,000 troops" from the federal government to help restore order and assist civil authorities in the New Orleans area and elsewhere in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, and will ask for more if needed. [...]

Al Qaeda has claimed responsibility for the July 7 London bombings , according to a video broadcast Thursday afternoon on Arab television channel Al-Jazeera. The video included statements from al Qaeda second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and Mohammad Sidique Khan, one of the suicide bombers in the attack. Khan said that the attacks were in response to [...]

The UK government put forth a proposal Thursday that would give relatives of homicide victims the opportunity to have their voices heard at murder and manslaughter trials. Much like the current system in the US, family members of a victim will be able to speak out directly or through a lawyer prior to the sentencing [...]

The EU on Thursday pushed Tehran to resume negotiations on the country's nuclear activities and threatened to bring Iran before the UN Security Council for possible sanctions if it did not. The threat comes as a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) , set to be released Saturday, is expected to confirm Iran's [...]

The European Commission on Thursday proposed new rules for the 25 European Union nations to set up common standards on immigration and asylum. Franco Frattini , vice-president of the Commission, said the goal was to have a uniform and transparent policy for returning people to their countries of origin. In the wake of the London [...]

The investigator leading the UN inquiry into the assassination of Lebanon's former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri said Thursday that there may be more suspects involved in the assassination, in addition to the five pro-Syrian men already arrested . On Tuesday, the investigation took a dramatic turn with the arrests of three former heads of Lebanese [...]

Carla del Ponte , chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia , on Thursday called for the EU to pressure Croatia and Serbia to take action on arresting suspects wanted by the UN tribunal and said the EU should not build closer ties with the countries until they do so. Del [...]

A US judge Wednesday denied Sami Al-Arian's request for a mistrial after suggestions emerged that the jury was tainted in the ongoing trial against the ex-professor . Sami Al-Arian and three other defendants are on trial in Florida related to charges that they used money from a local school and think tank to fund violent [...]

After legislators quashed the impeachment of Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo , opposition lawmakers said Thursday that they are attempting to collect enough votes to continue the impeachment process. In proceedings boycotted by the opposition, Arroyo's congressional allies in the House Committee on Justice voted Wednesday to dismiss the three impeachment complaints, which included rigging [...]