The US Congress enacted a new Medicare law on Tuesday to cut Medicare expenditures by reducing Medicare payments made to insurance companies rather than those made to doctors. President George W. Bush vetoed the bill, but the Senate overrode the veto by a vote of 70-26, while the House overrode it by a vote of [...]
The Seoul Central District Court Wednesday suspended a three-year prison sentence for former Samsung Chairman and CEO Kun-Hee Lee , who was convicted of tax fraud. The court ruled that Lee should not serve prison time because he did not actively seek to avoid taxes, but many criticized the decision in a country where wealthy [...]
The Spanish Senate voted Wednesday to ratify the new EU reform treaty , also known as the Treaty of Lisbon . Jose Manuel Barroso , the president of the European Commission, congratulated Spain on its passage of the Treaty, thanking the country for its "unwavering support for the European Project and the successful ratification of [...]
A Chinese office manager has become the first man to be imprisoned under a Chinese sexual harassment law passed in 2005, according to reports on Wednesday. Previous cases brought under the law have been settled through civil litigation. Women's rights advocates say that sexual harassment has long been a prevalent problem in China , but [...]
Ali Saleh Kahlah Al-Marri and Mark A. Berman v. Commander John Pucciarelli, et al., US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, July 15, 2008 . Read the full text of the opinion . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.
The Massachusetts Senate passed a bill Tuesday to repeal a 1913 law which bars people from marrying in Massachusetts if their own state would not recognize such a union. The statute gained attention because it would have the effect of preventing most out-of-state same-sex couples from marrying in Massachusetts. Proponents of same-sex marriage, including MassEquality.org [...]
Canada transferred US Army deserter Robin Long back to US custody Tuesday following a decision by the Federal Court of Canada denying his asylum request. Long is the first of an estimated 200 US military personnel avoiding deployment in Canada to be returned to the US. Last week the court allowed another soldier, Joshua Key, [...]
Lawyers for former Russian oil executive Mikhail Khodorkovsky on Wednesday filed an application for his parole from the Krasnokamensk penal colony in Siberia. Khodorkovsky headed the now-bankrupt OAO Yukos Oil Co. and was sent to prison by the Russian government in 2005 to serve an eight-year sentence for fraud and tax evasion . Last month Khodorkovsky's [...]
Thomas Hammarberg : "I have been in close contact with the Italian authorities ever since I was informed of violent anti-Roma manifestations in Italy and of the Italian government's decision to adopt new legislative measures concerning, among others, stricter immigration control, Roma and Sinti. On 19 and 20 June, I paid a visit to Italy [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, sitting en banc, issued a per curiam opinion Tuesday, finding by a vote of 5-4 that if the government's allegations against Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri are true, the President is empowered by Congress to hold al-Marri in a military prison without charge as an enemy combatant, [...]
