Ellen Podgor : "In a 5-4 decision, the United States Supreme Court issued an extremely narrow decision favorable to the government in the case of Pasquantino v. United States. Justice Thomas, delivering the opinion of the Court, held that there was no violation of the common law revenue rule when the government prosecutes a wire [...]

A prominent Islamic scholar was convicted Tuesday by a Virginia jury on 10 counts of encouraging his followers to fight a holy war against the US and join the Taliban in the wake of the September 11 terror attacks. Ali al-Timimi , 41, a lecturer at the Center for Islamic Information and Education in Falls [...]

A senior US State Department envoy said Tuesday after meetings with German officials that the German federal experience could provide a useful model for a permanent Iraqi constitution. Citing the German structure of multiple laender with considerable autonomy united in a federal union, Richard Jones , former US ambassador to Lebanon and now US Secretary [...]

Italian prosecutors in Milan Tuesday asked a judge to order Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and 12 others to stand trial on corruption charges relating to alleged fraud, tax evasion and money laundering in connection with a TV rights deal involving Mediaset . Mediaset, controlled by a holding company controlled by Berlusconi's family, has denied [...]

The US Supreme Court ruled 5-3 Tuesday in Small v. US that people convicted of a crime in a foreign country may own a gun in the US. Justice Stephen Breyer, writing for the majority, said that applying 18 U.S.C. 922, which makes it a crime for ex-convicts to possess a gun, to foreign convictions [...]

Syria completed a withdrawal of its military forces from Lebanon Tuesday, ending a 29-year presence just weeks before thr country's's parliamentary elections. The February 14 assassination of former premier Rafik Hariri, suspected to be the work of Syrian backers of the Lebanese government, brought about massive civil unrest in Lebanon, and growing dissatisfaction with Syrian [...]

On a visit to France Tuesday, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder voiced support for a call by French President Jacques Chirac for French citizens to ratify the new EU Constitution . Current polls indicate that French voters will reject the constitution when a national referendum occurs on May 29. Speaking at a news conference in Paris, [...]

A resolution amending the Texas Constitution to define marriage as between "one man and one woman" passed the Texas House on Monday by a vote of 102-29. If the resolution receives final passage on the Senate floor, it will be added to the Nov. 8 ballot to be voted on by Texas voters. Currently, domestic [...]

A Japanese court Tuesday refused to grant a petition by a group of Japanese and South Korean citizens seeking to stop Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara from visiting a Shinto shrine honoring Japan's war dead, including convicted World War II war criminals. The petitioners had argued in Tokyo District Court [...]

The Iraq Survey Group investigating the existence of possible Iraqi weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) reported publicly Monday that it could find no evidence that any such weapons were transferred to Syria in an effort to hide them from inspectors, although it did not rule out the possibility of some unofficial transfers. Review the report [...]