Germany said Friday that a revised version of its controversial `Volkswagen law`, approved in the German parliament, complies with demands laid down by the European Court of Justice.

Berlin has `met the requirements of the Court of Justice` in the bill passed late Thursday, a spokeswoman for the justice ministry told reporters.

The European Commission on Thursday proposed new measures to clamp down on tax dodgers who stash their cash in offshore accounts or use tax-free intermediaries.

Current European regulation, `although effective within the limits of its scope, can be easily circumvented,` EU Taxation Commissioner Laszlo Kovacs said in a statement.

The European Commission on Thursday proposed new measures to clamp down on tax dodgers who stash their cash in offshore accounts.

Current European regulation `although effective within the limits of its scope, can be easily circumvented,` EU Taxation Commissioner Laszlo Kovacs said in a statement.

Iran`s parliament on Sunday tightened the rules for people wishing to run for president, setting age limits and strict educational criteria in a bid to deter frivolous candidacies.

The move comes ahead of a presidential election set for June 12 next year, when incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is expected to seek a second four-year term.

Kyrgyzstan`s parliament has passed a new law limiting the registration of religious groups to those with 200 or more members and introducing state control over financing and religious education.

The legal move supersedes an earlier 1991 law that required only 10 members for a group to be registered, said Zainidin Kurmanov, a lawmaker involved in drafting the latest legislation.

Cyber-terrorism causing death is to be a capital crime, Pakistan`s government declared Thursday, as it seeks to get tough with extremism and high-tech offences.

An ordinance issued by President Asif Ali Zardari, released by state media, said: `Whoever commits the offence of cyber-terrorism and causes death of any person shall be punishable with death or imprisonment for life.`

Cigarette-shaped chocolates became the latest sweets to find themselves at the centre of a health warning in Germany Tuesday after cancer experts said they could encourage youngsters to smoke.

Singapore plans to amend an organ transplant law early next year so that kidney donors can receive financial compensation, The Sunday Times reported.

Under existing laws, it is illegal for donors to be given cash in return for giving up a kidney.

A Russian broadcaster is under investigation for airing US-managed Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) in violation of its license terms, Interfax news agency reported Saturday, citing police.

Sweden`s Queen Silvia wants Sweden to follow the example of neighbouring Denmark and Norway and make it illegal to systematically look at child pornography, she said in an interview on Saturday.

`It would be excellent if we could have (a ban) in Sweden too.... It would be very important if we could go as far as Norway and Denmark,` the 64-year-old royal told Swedish public radio.

The Dutch cabinet gave the nod Friday to a bid to scrap a legal ban on blasphemy, opting to expand hate speech beyond religious boundaries to include all groups of people.

`The cabinet gives the prohibition of blasphemy a new form and place in the law,` said a statement from the justice ministry.

The parliament in Iraq`s autonomous Kurdish region, under pressure from feminist groups, passed a law on Thursday limiting the circumstances under which a man may have more than one wife.

`We did not manage to prohibit polygamy outright, but we succeeded in strictly limiting it,` female MP Khaman Zrar told AFP.

Indonesian lawmakers rammed a far-reaching anti-pornography law through parliament Thursday despite howls of protest by artists and religious minorities who say it threatens national unity.

Lawmakers voted by an overwhelming majority to back a modified version of the law, which criminalises all works and `bodily movements` deemed obscene and capable of violating public morality.

The Czech parliament on Wednesday recognised the International Criminal Court after years of hesitation about whether the court might violate the country`s constitution.

The lower house approved the 1998 treaty establishing the ICC, which handles serious crimes against humanity and war crimes, more than three months after the upper house took the same decision.

STOCKHOLM, Oct 23, 2008 (AFP) - Sweden plans to crack down on hooliganism with a new law allowing police to ban troublemakers from stadiums and making it illegal to storm the pitch, throw objects and light firecrackers, the government said on Thursday.

The justice ministry has prepared legislation which is currently being studied by experts.

Croatia`s parliament Friday adopted a tough anti-tobacco law that bans smoking in all public institutions as well as work places, echoing standards of the European Union which it hopes to join by 2010.

Shareholders of former Belgian-Dutch financial group Fortis, now dismantled and part-nationalised, are to sue three former company bosses in a Netherlands court for fraud, their lawyer told AFP Thursday.

Bulgaria`s parliament adopted Thursday the country`s first conflict-of-interest law, following EU demands for measures combatting high-level corruption.

The legislation was proposed by Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev after a major corruption scandal at the country`s road agency in February that forced agency head Vesselin Georgiev to resign.

Ethiopia on Tuesday condemned Human Rights Watch's call on the
country's lawmakers to reject a draft law that would give government
more control in the affairs of foreign aid groups.

ADDIS ABABA, Oct 13, 2008 (AFP) - Human Rights Watch urged Ethiopian lawmakers on Monday to reject legislation it says would slap major government restrictions on foreign aid groups and ban them from some activities.

Ethiopia's parliament will debate the Charities and Societies Proclamation bill later this month.

MOSCOW, Oct 13, 2008 (AFP) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Monday enacted legislation aimed at stabilising the country's troubled financial markets with government support worth an estimated 150 billion dollars.

WASHINGTON, Oct 8, 2008 (AFP) - Internal documents show the US military exported the 'brutal interrogation techniques' from Guantanamo prison and applied them to three terror suspects in US jails, civil rights groups said Wednesday.

GENEVA, Oct 8, 2008 (AFP) - Got a poorly pooch? Swiss vets stand ready to rush to aid but please no flashing lights or sirens, the country's supreme court ruled Wednesday.

The Federal Tribunal ruled that veterinary ambulances cannot function like normal ones, citing road safety concerns.

NEW DELHI, Oct 6, 2008 (AFP) - The cream-and-orange cafe with scalloped windows on India's National Highway 31 dubs itself the 'Compleat Family Hotel.'

But the only children inside were small boys hard at work clearing away the plates.

NEW DELHI, Oct 5, 2008 (AFP) - India has finalised a draft law to regulate one of its most successful but ethically problematic 'outsourcing' industries -- providing surrogate mothers for childless couples.

SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq, Oct 3, 2008 (AFP) - Iraq's three-member presidency council on Friday approved a long-delayed provincial election law, clearing the final hurdle for polls to go head early next year, an official present at the meeting told AFP.

GENEVA, Oct 1, 2008 (AFP) - Switzerland's highest court has overturned a three-month-old smoking ban in public places in Geneva, saying the move failed to follow proper procedures.

HONG KONG, Sept 22, 2008 (AFP) - Hong Kong's government on Monday approved a law strictly limiting melamine in food as authorities in China said some 53,000 children had fallen illen after drinking milk tainted with the chemical.

HONG KONG, Sept 19, 2008 (AFP) - Hong Kong said Friday it will introduce a law against excess melamine in food, amid a growing scandal over Chinese dairy products containing the potentially life-threatening chemical.

Health officials are studying safe levels of melamine, a chemical used to make plastics, said York Chow, secretary for health, environment and food.

NEW DELHI, Sept 18, 2008 (AFP) - Internet giants Google and Microsoft have pulled adverts for sex selection products and services considered illegal in India after being threatened with legal action, activists said Thursday.

BERLIN, Sept 16, 2008 (AFP) - Bavaria's already embattled premier found himself in trouble on Tuesday after saying that driving is okay after two litres (three and half pints) of beer at the Oktoberfest starting this week.

WOLFSBURG, September 12, 2008 (AFP) - Tens of thousands of workers demonstrated at Volkswagen's headquarters Friday against what they see as threats to their jobs from Porsche's takeover efforts and from EU regulators.

WOLFSBURG, September 12, 2008 (AFP) - Tens of thousands of workers demonstrated at Volkswagen headquarters on Friday to ward off what they see as threats to their jobs from both Porsche and the European Commission.

WOLFSBURG, September 12, 2008 (AFP) - Workers began gathering at Volkswagen headquarters Friday for a mass Demonstration against two beasts they see as threatening their jobs -- Porsche's boss and the European Commission.

ZAGREB, 11 septembre 2008 (AFP) - The Croatian government is to forward to the parliament a tough anti-tobacco bill introducing a public smoking ban, a minister said Thursday.

'With the new law, we want to change people's (smoking) habits and protect non-smokers,' Health Minister Darko Milinovic said.

ROME, September 11, 2008 (AFP) - The Italian government on Thursday agreed to outlaw prostitution in public places, recommending prison terms of up to 15 days and fines of up to 13,000 euros for prostitutes and their clients.

The new legislation is to 'crack down hard' on prostitution as it encourages trafficking in women and sex slavery, Equal Opportunity Minister Mara Carfagna said.

ROME, September 9, 2008 (AFP) - Legislation to outlaw prostitution in public places in Italy, including its streets and highways, will be put before Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's cabinet Thursday.

BRUSSELS, September 9, 2008 (AFP) - The European Commission will bring new court action against Germany in its long-running stand-off with Berlin over a law shielding Volkswagen from takeovers, a spokeswoman said Tue