US District Court for the District of Columbia Magistrate Judge Deborah A. Robinson Tuesday sentenced former US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner Dr. Lester M. Crawford to three years supervised probation and imposed about $90,000 in fines. Crawford had pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of conflict of interest and false writing in October 2006. [...]
Germany's Federal Constitutional Court ruled Tuesday that authorities violated the freedom of the press when they raided the offices of the monthly political magazine Cicero . In September 2005, investigators searched the offices of Cicero in an attempt to find the source of a leak of confidential papers from Germany's Federal Crime Office in connection [...]
The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday in Winkelman v. Parma City School District , 05-983 , where the court must decide whether parents of an autistic child can represent their child in federal court in suits arising under the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA) . The Winkelmans argue that the act [...]
A grand jury in Mississippi Tuesday refused to indict Carolyn Bryant on charges of manslaughter for the 1955 kidnap and murder of Emmett Till due to a lack of sufficient evidence. Carolyn is the wife of Rob Bryant, who, along with his half brother J.W. Milam, was acquitted in 1955 by an all-white jury on [...]
Australian Prime Minister John Howard was accused Tuesday of yielding to far-right groups who want a "white Australia" after the Australian Senate passed the Australian Citizenship Bill of 2006 on Monday. Seen as the biggest revision of immigration laws in nearly 60 years, the Citizenship Bill will make it harder to become an Australian citizen [...]
Nigerian officials announced Tuesday the creation of an election tribunal to preside over disputes and complaints arising from the nation's general elections to be held in April 2007 . As Idris Kutigi, chief justice of the Nigerian Supreme Court swore in judges to serve on the tribunal, he warned them against taking bribes from politicians [...]
Luis Moreno-Ocampo , chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court asked a panel of ICC judges Tuesday to issue summonses for two top suspects accused of committing war crimes in the Darfur region of Sudan. The call was the first action taken against individuals in the ICC's ongoing investigation of the Darfur situation. In his [...]
The Supreme Court of Japan ruled Tuesday that schools can order teachers to play the country's national anthem . In 1999, a Japanese music teacher refused to play the anthem at a school ceremony. She filed a lawsuit after the school tried to force her to play the anthem, arguing that protections for freedom of [...]
Malawi Vice President Cassim Chilumpha pleaded not guilty to treason and conspiring to murder the president as his trial on the charges began Monday. In May 2006, Chilumpha was placed under house arrest three weeks after police arrested him in connection with an alleged plot to assassinate Malawi President Bingu wa Mutharika . Chilumpha says [...]
The Nepalese government has created a panel to assemble a list of assets held by King Gyanendra and seize property he obtained after ascending to the throne, a cabinet spokesman said Monday. Dilendra Prasad Badu said the three-member panel is tasked with detailing the king's assets and recommending a plan to nationalize the property and [...]
