A Canadian Catholic diocese on Friday reached a proposed settlement agreement in a class action suit alleging that diocesan priests sexually abused children. Under the terms of the agreement, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Antigonish would establish a CAD $12 million fund from which people who were abused by priests since 1950, or their estates, [...]
Voters in Niger overwhelmingly approved a referendum Friday establishing a new constitution that would allow President Mamadou Tandja to remain in office. Among the new constitution's changes is the abolition of a presidential two-term limit, allowing Tandja to remain in office for three more years and to run in any subsequent elections. Tandja argued that [...]
The German Constitutional Court ruled Thursday that children can be required to attend sex education classes, despite parents' religious objections. The suit was brought by Baptist parents who were fined €80 after keeping their two sons home from a school program on sexual abuse and another event celebrating Carnival. The court found that even though [...]
The Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of the Interior announced Friday that the country will accept two Syrian Guantanamo Bay detainees in order to aid US efforts to close the facility. According to the statement, US special envoy Daniel Fried met with Portuguese officials in Lisbon and presented a specific request that Portugal [...]
US Department of Defense, et al. v. American Civil Liberties Union, et al., on petition for a writ of certiorari, US Department of Defense, August 7, 2009 . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here. Latest commentary available here. JURIST has more on detainee abuse photos.
Muhammad v. Kelly, US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, August 7, 2009 . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here. Latest commentary available here. JURIST has more on capital punishment.
A federal judge on Wednesday refused to accept a $33 million settlement agreement reached this week between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Bank of America . The SEC charged BOA on Monday with misleading investors regarding billions of dollars paid to Merrill Lynch executives during the acquisition of the firm. The complaint alleged [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Thursday rejected an appeal from an Internet domain owner seeking to recover $10 million in damages from an online marketer under the federal CAN-SPAN Act . James Gordon had recruited his friends and relatives to collect thousands of unsolicited emails as evidence that Virtumundo, Inc., [...]
An indigenous tribe in Indonesia on Thursday filed a $30 million lawsuit against a subsidiary of US mining company Freeport-McRoRan Copper & Gold for numerous environmental and human rights violations. The Amungme people are suing PT Freeport for damages to their ancestral lands in the Papua province, claiming that they are the rightful owners of [...]
Chinese authorities on Friday executed the former head of the company that owns the Beijing Capital International Airport, after he was convicted of bribery and embezzlement. Li Peiying, former chairman of the Capital Airports Holding Company , was sentenced to death in February after being convicted of accepting bribes of 26.61 million yuan (USD $3.9 [...]
