European Union (EU) lawmakers adopted a legislative report Thursday to tighten gun control laws and establish an extensive firearms database. The new rules are the result of 18 months of negotiations between the European Parliament , national governments and gun advocates. The rules would prohibit anyone under 18 from buying a gun with the exception [...]
The Israeli Supreme Court ruled Friday that the government cannot proceed with plans to cut electricity to the Gaza Strip this weekend. The court did allow, however, a continuation of fuel supply cuts to the region, which began last month. According to AP, the three-judge panel wrote that "we were not convinced that the decision [...]
The special Constitutional Assembly in Ecuador charged with rewriting Ecuador's constitution suspended Ecuador's congress Thursday pending approval of a new charter in a nation-wide referendum, expected late next year. The special assembly, controlled by leftist President Rafael Correa , will assume legislative duties until the new constitution is approved and the special assembly calls general [...]
Philippine authorities have taken 50 military officers and supporters into custody following Thursday's attempted overthrow of Philippine President Gloria Arroyo . About a dozen officers on trial in the Philippines in connection with a failed 2003 mutiny Thursday walked out of court, took control of a Manila hotel, and demanded Arroyo's resignation. Philippine military and [...]
A Sudanese court Thursday convicted British school teacher Gillian Gibbons of insulting Islam and sentenced her to 15 days in prison for allowing her students to name the class teddy bear Muhammad. Gibbons will serve 10 more days in prison, after having already served five, and will then be deported. Gibbons had originally been charged [...]
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday signed into law a measure that will suspend the nation's responsibilities under the 1990 Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty . The Federation Council of Russia, Russia's upper house, unanimously approved the measure earlier this month following a unanimous vote in the State Duma in favor of suspending the CFE. [...]
All convicted federal felons must provide DNA samples to a federal database available to police departments throughout the country, a divided panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled Thursday. Judge Margaret McKeown, writing for the majority, upheld a 2004 amendment to the DNA Analysis Backlog Elimination Act (DNA Act) , [...]
JURIST Guest Columnist Benjamin Davis of the University of Toledo College of Law says official US calls for "clarifying" the Geneva Conventions are part of a ploy to limit their application and enable prisoners to be treated outside the law without inviting culpability for war crimes and torture… State Department Legal Adviser John Bellinger III [...]
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has formally asked US President George Bush to hand over Ali Hassan al-Majid , better known in the Western media as "Chemical Ali," and two other former members of Saddam Hussein's former regime, Iraqi officials said Thursday. In a letter to President Bush Tuesday, Maliki demanded that the US hand [...]
Ruling on the White House's Claims of Executive Privilege and Immunity Made in Response to Senate Judiciary Committee Subpoenas, US Senate Judiciary Chairman Senator Patrick Leahy, November 29, 2007 . Read the full text of the ruling . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.
