Four countries seeking permanent representation on the UN Security Council – Japan, Brazil, India, and Germany – said Wednesday at a foreign ministry meeting in Brussels that they would request a July vote on their Security Council reform resolution . The countries, known collectively as the G-4, originally planned to call for a vote later [...]
The Colombian Congress passed a bill Wednesday which gives lesser punishments to paramilitary leaders who disarm, admit their crimes, compensate victims, and return stolen goods. The bill, announced last week , was approved after Colombian President Alvaro Uribe made it more stringent after a warning by US lawmakers that its impact would not be strict [...]
A young boy who claimed that Lionel Tate robbed a pizza delivery man at gunpoint in May "took back" his story Wednesday, which could mean freedom again for Tate, once the youngest American to receive a life prison sentence . Thirteen-year old Taquincy Tomkins said he had named Tate as the robber because he was [...]
Leading Wednesday's corporations and securities law news, the SEC has announced that its five-member panel will vote again on a controversial rule requiring mutual funds to be overseen by independent chairmen. The announcement comes after a federal appeals court ruled that the SEC had not adequately investigated the cost of implementing the plan. The panel [...]
Leading Wednesday's states brief, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has upheld the state's slot-machine gambling law . While rejecting some parts of the law, the court found that the process used by the legislature to enact the law was constitutional. Attorneys argued over constitutional provisions that say a bill cannot be amended to change its original [...]
A Pentagon report released Wednesday detailed troubling relgious insensitivity at the US Air Force Academy , but found no overt acts of religious discrimination. The Department of Defense investigated the constitutionality of certain religious practices and reports of religious intolerance at the elite Colorado Springs institution. The report nonetheless calls for more "operational guidance" as [...]
The Peruvian government on Wednesday condemned a Peru Supreme Court decision to drop allegations that former President Alberto Fujimori used forged signatures to register for the 2000 elections. The Peruvian Congress has a list of charges against Fujimori, and is seeking to extradite him from Japan . The government called the dismissal "scandalous" and "unfortunate". [...]
Leading Wednesday's international brief, the South African National Assembly has approved the highly controversial national Children's Bill , nine years after its first introduction. The bill, which will be presented to the National Council of Provinces for approval next before being submitted to President Thabo Mbeki, contains numerous changes widely hailed as beneficial, such as [...]
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas asked his government's Justice Minister Wednesday to set aside verdicts by the much-criticized state security courts . Human rights groups have said the courts, set up under Yasser Arafat in 1995, were too quick, violated due process and handed down too severe sentences, including the death penalty. The move is part [...]
The Spanish Senate voted 131-119 Wednesday against a bill that would legalize gay marriage. The bill had already passed the lower house of parliament , but faced fierce opposition from the Catholic Church and conservative groups . The bill is still likely to pass , however, since it now returns to the lower house for [...]
