A top legal advisor to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) reported Tuesday that a German law protecting Volkswagen , Europe's largest carmaker, from takeovers is protectionist and should be repealed. Advocate General Damaso Ruiz-Jarabo said a law that prevents any shareholder from exercising more than 20 percent of the carmaker's voting rights, no matter [...]
The Mexican Senate will vote Wednesday on a bill to reduce the punishment for possessing "personal use" amounts of certain drugs for first-time offenders, Mexican lawmakers announced Monday. The bill imposes only a fine on first-time offenders found in possession of 1 gram or less of drugs like marijuana. According to Mexican Senator and Senate [...]
Republic of Guinea President Lansana Conte declared martial law Monday after several days of violence left at least 27 dead. The rioting began Saturday after Conte appointed a close ally from the Guinea cabinet, Eugene Camara, as prime minister. Opposition leaders said the appointment violated an agreement struck with trade unions last month to share [...]
Russian military prosecutors said Monday that they plan to launch a probe into allegations that young men serving their mandatory military conscription period are being forced into prostitution by fellow soldiers. The Union of Soldiers' Mothers Committees , a soldiers' rights group, brought the allegations to light by telling the story of an anonymous soldier [...]
Chicago Sun-Times columnist Robert Novak testified Monday that former vice-presidential aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby did not leak to him the identity of former undercover CIA operative Valerie Plame . Both Novak and Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward testified that it was former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage who had told them about Plame's [...]
The Taipei High Prosecutors Office in Taiwan indicted Nationalist Party (KMT) leader Ma Ying-jeou Tuesday on corruption charges. The allegations against Ma, who had been considered a top contender in the 2008 presidential elections, involve $333,000 taken from a city expense fund during his term as mayor of Taipei during 2002 to 2006. Ma has [...]
JURIST Contributing Editor Mary Ellen O'Connell of Notre Dame Law School says that the United States today has no legal basis to use significant armed force against Iran, and that another unlawful war in the wake of the Iraq debacle would be very damaging to American interests and image abroad… Rumors are flying of a [...]
The Brussels Court of First Instance ruled Tuesday that Google violated copyright law by linking to Belgian newspapers without receiving permission to do so. The Internet company was ordered to pay $32,500 (25,000 euros) per day until all of the content is removed, retroactive to 139 days ago when Google was first asked to take [...]
North Korea agreed Tuesday that it would end its nuclear weapons program in exchange for aid as part of a multi-stage initiative with partners in the so-called Six-Party Talks . In the initial stage, North Korea promised to shut down and seal its main nuclear reactor and in exchange for 50,000 tons of heavy fuel. [...]
An Idaho State Senate committee Monday passed a bill requiring written parental consent for minors to get abortions . In a 7-2 vote, the State Affairs Committee approved Senate Bill No. 1082 , which amends, repeals and adds to existing law relating to abortion to revise a public records exemption; provide for criminal act state [...]
