A Tunisian court Wednesday sentenced in absentia nephew of ousted former president Zine Al Abidine Ben Ali to 15 years in prison for issuing bad checks, according to a Tunisian state media report. A trial court in the city of Beja issued the cumulative sentence against Sofiane Ben Ali for multiple cases in which he [...]
Bahrain’s Lower National Safety Court sentenced 20 activists on Wednesday—eight to life in prison—for anti-government protests conducted earlier this year. The convicted were charged with “plotting to topple the leadership of the Kingdom of Bahrain,” but rights organizations have denied this, stating that all convicted were protesters exercising freedom of speech. The 20 protesters are [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on Tuesday permitted a lawsuit against the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) arising out of the terror attacks of September 11, 2001 to proceed. An electrical substation at the base of 7 World Trade Center (7WTC) was destroyed when the building collapsed [...]
JPMorgan Chase & Co reached a $153.6 million settlement Tuesday for fraud charges brought by the US Securities and Exchange Commissionn(SEC) for allegedly misleading investors during the housing crisis. A settlement was reached when JPMorgan agreed to pay a $133 million fine, in addition to $20.6 million for fraudulent profits and interest. This settlement is [...]
Judge Thomas Hogan of the US District Court for the District of Columbia Monday approved a $3.4 billion settlement in the American Indian trust class-action lawsuit. The suit has been underway for 15 years, with a federal judge approving of the most expensive class-action settlement against the US government ever approved. The Department of the [...]
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad Tuesday granted amnesty for “crimes” committed before June 20 during the protests that began earlier this year, according to a decree published in Syrian state media. Minister of Justice Judge Tayseer Qala Awwad said the decree pardons those serving sentences who are suffering with terminal illnesses except for serious crimes such [...]
A Chilean appeals court on Monday ordered the temporary suspension of a USD $10 billion hydroelectric dam project in Patagonia. HidroAysen , a private Chilean venture, seeks to build five dams whose construction was approved by the Chilean government in May. The Puerto Montt court approved three petitions challenging government authorization of the dam construction [...]
US President Barack Obama overrode the legal interpretations of the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel in maintaining the administration’s position that US forces operating in Libya did not violate the 1973 War Powers Resolution , the New York Times reported Monday. Pentagon general counsel Jeh Johnson and [...]
Former Croatian prime minister Ivo Sanader on Monday dropped his appeal of a Zagreb extradition request, thereby compelling him to face corruption charges in Croatia. Sanader’s lawyers said that the former prime minister dropped the appeal after media speculation suggesting the appeal process could tarnish Croatian accession to the European Union (EU) . Sanader is [...]
A Wisconsin judge ruled on Monday that the state’s domestic partnership registry does not infringe on the constitutional ban on gay marriage. Plaintiff Wisconsin Family Action challenged the Domestic Partnership Registry as unconstitutional pursuant to the Marriage Amendment of Wisconsin’s Constitution . Dane County Circuit Judge Daniel Moeser granted summary judgment to defendant Fair Wisconsin [...]
