Vietnamese court sends 6 to prison for arranging more than 300 fraudulent foreign adoptions

September 22nd, 2009 HANOI, Vietnam — A court in northern Vietnam has put 16 people on trial for allegedly selling more than 250 babies for foreign adoption, a court official said Tuesday. The head of two social welfare centers in Nam Dinh province as well as several doctors and nurses at village clinics went on trial Tuesday, said Dang Viet Hung, the chief judge at the court hearing the case.

September 17th, 2009 Egypt convicts 2 US couples for illegal adoptionCAIRO — Two American couples who say they were trying to adopt children in Egypt were convicted of human trafficking and sentenced to two years in prison Thursday in a case that highlighted the murky process for adopting in this predominantly Muslim country. Islamic law observed in Egypt bans Muslims from adopting children, in the name of maintaining clear bloodlines to ensure lines of patrimony and inheritance.

September 15th, 2009 Uruguay law may not enable gay adoptions after allMONTEVIDEO, Uruguay — A closer reading of an adoptions law promoted by Uruguay's gay rights groups suggests it might not enable adoptions by gay and lesbian couples after all. With the law awaiting President Tabare Vazquez's signature, gay rights groups have been celebrating the prospect that Uruguay could become the first country in Latin America to give gay and lesbian couples the opportunity to adopt.

September 13th, 2009 Freed Vietnamese blogger agrees to stop writingHANOI, Vietnam — A woman who was jailed after writing a blog critical of the Vietnamese government said Monday that she agreed to stop blogging as a condition of her release. "It's time for me to put an end to this blog," Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh said in a handwritten statement posted on her Web site Monday, following her release over the weekend.

September 9th, 2009 Uruguay clears way for gay adoptionsMONTEVIDEO, Uruguay — Uruguay is clearing the way for homosexual couples to adopt children. The Senate's final approval Wednesday makes Uruguay the first country in Latin America to allow gay and lesbian couples the opportunity to adopt.

August 26th, 2009 Fla. gay adoption ban goes to state appeals courtMIAMI — Florida's strict ban on adoptions by gay people is going before a state appeals court. The state is appealing a Miami-Dade County judge's November 2008 ruling that the law is unconstitutional.

August 26th, 2009 Fla. gay adoption ban goes to appeals courtMIAMI — A Florida appeals court is being urged to affirm a judge's ruling that the state's strict ban on adoptions by gay people is unconstitutional. Attorneys for parent Martin Gill and his two children argued Wednesday in Miami that there's no rational basis to exclude gay people.

July 2nd, 2009 37 senators seek freedom for Vietnamese priestWASHINGTON — Thirty-seven U.S. senators are asking Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet to release a dissident Roman Catholic priest serving prison and house arrest terms totaling 13 years.

June 30th, 2009 DC tax fraud ringleader gets 17 years in prisonWASHINGTON — A former Washington, D.C., employee has been sentenced to 17½ years in prison for leading a scheme that stole nearly $50 million from the city using fraudulent property tax refund checks. Former D.C. tax office manager Harriette Walters pleaded guilty in September to wire fraud, money laundering and other charges and has been jailed since her arrest in 2007.

June 10th, 2009 Feds indict 7 in alleged fraudulent tax schemeNEW YORK — Federal authorities have indicted the former chief executive of a major accounting firm and six others in what they say was a wide-ranging criminal scheme that generated more than $7 billion in fraudulent tax losses. The indictment filed Tuesday in Manhattan federal court charges the seven with 27 separate counts that include conspiring to defraud the IRS and tax evasion.

May 14th, 2009 A look at adoptions to the United StatesIn the 2008 fiscal year, 17,438 children in foreign countries were adopted by U.S. citizens and taken to the United States.

April 27th, 2009 Khmer Rouge jailer: infamous regulations sign fakePHNOM PENH, Cambodia — A Khmer Rouge jail chief on trial for the torture and execution of thousands of people said Monday that an infamous sign listing prison regulations was fabricated by Vietnamese who overthrew the late 1970s regime. Kaing Guek Eav, 66, alias Duch, commanded Phnom Penh's S-21 prison, where as many as 16,000 men, women and children are believed to have been tortured before being sent to their deaths.

April 23rd, 2009 Vietnamese officers visit US aircraft carrierHANOI, Vietnam — Senior Vietnamese military officers have visited a U.S. aircraft carrier for the first time, underscoring growing ties between the militaries of the two former foes, state media reported Thursday.

April 22nd, 2009 Sierra Leone sends 3 to US to face drug chargesFREETOWN, Sierra Leone — Sierra Leone authorities say three men convicted of drug smuggling have been sent to the U.S. where they are wanted on similar charges.

March 31st, 2009 HANOI - Vietnamese authorities Tuesday criticised India's decision to impose anti-dumping duties on Vietnamese textiles. 'This decision is unfriendly and unreasonable,' said Nguyen Thanh Bien, Vietnam's deputy minister of trade and industry.