Minority groups in northern Iraq have been the target of attacks by Sunni Arab extremist groups and harassment by Kurdish forces because of ongoing disputes with the country's central government, according to a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report released Tuesday. HRW alleges that Yazidids, Shabaks, and Assyrian Christians are caught between the Arab and Kurd [...]
A jury US District Court for the Eastern District of New York found former Bear Stearns hedge fund managers Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tannin not guilty of federal securities-related charges Tuesday. While Cioffi alone was charged with insider trading, both men were charged with three counts of securities fraud and two counts of wire fraud [...]
The Cambodian government on Tuesday refused Thailand's request to extradite former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra , escalating a political row that threatens to destabilize the efforts of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) . Shinawatra arrived in Cambodia earlier this week and was appointed an economic advisor to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, [...]
A judge for the US District Court for the District of South Carolina ruled Tuesday that license plates produced by the state bearing a picture of a cross in front of a stained glass window and the words "I Believe" violate the US Constitution. Judge Cameron Currie ruled that the "I Believe Act" , which [...]
A French court on Tuesday ordered the country's government to extend adoption rights to a gay woman. The court held that French adoption law , which currently allows single people to adopt children but bars same-sex partners from doing so, illegally discriminates against homosexuals. In 1998, a woman identified only as Emmanuelle B. attempted to [...]
US Senate Banking Committee chair Chris Dodd (D-CT) introduced Tuesday wide-ranging financial regulatory legislation designed to limit systemic risk to the country's economy. If passed, the bill would introduce a single federal bank regulator, create a consumer financial protection agency, and attempt to close certain regulatory loopholes. Dodd announced the bill, saying that it was [...]
Convicted DC-area sniper John Allen Muhammad was executed by lethal injection Tuesday night after Virginia Governor Timothy Kaine rejected Muhammad's request for clemency and refused to suspend the execution. The US Supreme Court on Monday had denied Muhammad's application for a stay of execution and his petition for certiorari , which he filed last week. [...]
The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday in two cases. In Kucana v. Holder , the Court heard arguments on whether a federal statute gives federal courts jurisdiction to review rulings on motions to reopen decisions by the Board of Immigration Appeals . The US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that [...]
The Supreme Court of Kansas has announced that it may have to shut down state courts for one week every month as a result of an $8 million judiciary budget deficit created by a legislative oversight. The shortfall resulted from the state senate cutting $11 million from the judiciary budget under the mistaken assumption that [...]
President of Italy's Chamber of Deputies Gianfranco Fini said Tuesday that he would support legislation to limit the length of trials in the country. The reforms were proposed by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi , with Fini voicing his support after meeting with the prime minister. If passed, the bill would place a six-year cap on [...]
