UK Home Secretary Charles Clarke told the European Parliament Wednesday that it may be necessary for EU member states to accept an erosion of some civil liberties in order to protect their countries from organized crime and terrorism. Addressing a parliamentary session on balancing rights and security, Clarke said that citizens' right to life should [...]
Chile's Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal by deposed Chilean leader Augusto Pinochet of a lower court decision in July that stripped him of immunity from prosecution. Pinochet, 89, is accused of involvement in Operation Colombo, in which 119 political opponents were allegedly abducted and killed in 1975. The current case covers 16 [...]
UAL Corporation, the parent company of United Airlines , filed its reorganization plan and disclosure statement in US bankruptcy court Wednesday, before the recently extended November 1 expiration of its exclusive ability to draft such a plan. A $2.5 billion, all-debt loan package from Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, General Electric and Deutsche Bank will finance the [...]
Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky officially notified the district election commission Wednesday of his plans to run for the Moscow legislature in the December election, according to his lawyer Anton Drel. The former CEO of Russian oil company Yukos is eligible for the race while he appeals his May conviction and nine year sentence for [...]
A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich that attempted to stop the military from moving part of the 183rd Fighter Wing out of the state. The governor had argued that the unit was part of the state militia and had asked the judge to issue a temporary restraining order [...]
Federal prosecutors said Tuesday that they planned on filing new charges against about a dozen suspects who are allegedly involved in the sale of questionable tax shelters by accounting firm KPMG . Prosecutors discussed the ongoing investigation at the arraignment of nine defendants charged last month for conspiracy to devise and sell fraudulent tax shelters, [...]
Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act, passed by the California Assembly . Read the full text of the bill here. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.
The Israeli Supreme Court has ruled that the Israeli government should look into whether the Palestinian Authority , US or UN is willing to preserve 20 synagogues that remain standing in the Gaza strip following last month's Israeli withdrawal from the region. The court's Tuesday ruling follows an earlier temporary injunction prohibiting the destruction of [...]
An international media watchdog organization has said that internet company Yahoo divulged information to China that led to the conviction of a journalist for leaking state secrets. Reporters Without Borders Tuesday accused the Hong Kong arm of Yahoo with providing "China’s state security authorities with details that helped to identify and convict" journalist Shi Tao. [...]
Microsoft announced Wednesday that it has filed a lawsuit against the European Commission in the European Court of First Instance over the "issue of broad licences for the source code of communications protocols." The lawsuit comes as part of the fallout from a 2004 European Commission decision , where Microsoft was fined $613 million and [...]
