Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Thursday was denied his request to replace the presiding judge at his ongoing corruption trial . Berlusconi's legal team claimed that judge Nicoletta Gandus was biased after she commented on laws passed by the previous Berlusconi government. They also argued that she had a vested interest in another trial [...]
International Criminal Court (ICC) Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said Thursday that he will widen his investigation into war crimes in Sudan's Darfur region to include attacks by rebel groups against African Union (AU) peacekeeping forces. Speaking at a press conference during celebrations for the tenth anniversary of the Rome Statute , which created the ICC, [...]
A US district court judge on Thursday rejected a bid to stay the trial of Guantanamo Bay detainee Salim Ahmed Hamdan , ruling that a civilian court should refrain from review until the military commission had issued a "final judgment." Hamdan's lawyers had argued that the military trial should be postponed until the court rules [...]
Belgian King Albert II declined to accept the resignation of Prime Minister Yves Leterme on Thursday. Leterme submitted his resignation Monday night because of his coalition government's inability to successfully divide federal powers between the Flemish- and French-speaking communities. King Albert II also announced a commission, consisting of one German-speaking and two French-speaking senior politicians, [...]
The Bush administration abandoned plans to impose Clean Air Act (CAA) regulations on power plants and other stationary pollution sources after opposition from the oil industry, according to a report released Friday by the House Select Committee on Global Warming . Based on interviews with former EPA official Jason Burnett, the committee found that there [...]
Texas Governor Rick Perry said Thursday that Texas will go forward with the August 5 execution of a Mexican national despite an International Court of Justice (ICJ) order staying the execution . The ICJ ordered Wednesday that a mandated review be conducted to determine whether five Mexican nationals on death row in Texas were inappropriately [...]
Jeff McNelly : "For several years ARIPPA has been involved in an effort to educate EPA and Congressional leaders that the proposed CAIR regulations were flawed and unfair to our industry. This effort has involved hundreds of thousands of volunteer hours as well as professional staff and counsel guidance. Our positions were supported by the [...]
Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim was released on bail Thursday, one day after being arrested by Malaysian authorities investigating sodomy allegations made against him by a former aide. According to a statement posted Thursday, Anwar was told that he would be released immediately after undergoing DNA testing, but was instead held overnight. In his statement, Anwar indicated that [...]
The California Supreme Court Wednesday rejected without comment a challenge seeking to remove a November ballot initiative that would ban same-sex marriage in the state. The petition, filed by Equality California, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Lambda Legal and the American Civil Liberties Union , argued that the amendment would deprive same-sex couples of [...]
The US House of Representatives Wednesday approved by voice vote a ban prohibiting the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from allowing private contractors to interrogate detainees. The ban is part of a bill authorizing intelligence expenditures for the 2009 fiscal year. US President George W. Bush has threatened to veto the legislation, objecting to provisions that [...]
