[JURIST] Thailand's Cabinet on Tuesday approved October 15 as the date for new elections just three weeks after the country's Constitutional Court annulled [JURIST report] last month's parliamentary elections [BBC report], finding that the Election Commission [official website] unconstitutionally organized the vote too soon after Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra [official website] dismissed parliament, leaving new candidates little time to prepare. Earlier this month, the three principal Thai courts rejected an initially-proposed date of October 22 [JURIST report] and called on the members of the current Election Commission to resign [JURIST report].

Meanwhile Thaksin, having taken up his duties again last week after a hiatus that he described as a "political break" and not a resignation, has filed the first of a number of lawsuits against organizers of the street protests that forced him to temporarily step aside. His lawyer said Tuesday that he has sued a newspaper for criminal defamation and would file civil libel cases against opponents Friday. Aljazeera has more.