Three Spanish air crew and a Belgian pilot held in Chad in connection with a French charity's attempt to airlift 103 children alleged to be Darfur orphans were released Friday. Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos praised Chadian officials, including President Idriss Deby , for their smooth handling of the situation and said that Spain [...]

Former federal judge Michael B. Mukasey was sworn in Friday as the 81st attorney general of the United States after a confirmation process fraught with controversy. The US Senate voted 53-40 late Thursday evening to confirm Mukasey's nomination. The nomination was backed by the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this week by an 11-8 vote. Much [...]

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Friday accused his opposition of using "fascist violence" to oppose constitutional changes that would eliminate presidential term limits and augment the president's emergency powers. Earlier this month, the Venezuelan National Assembly approved a set of proposed amendments to the country's constitution by a 160-7 vote. The proposed amendments passed a preliminary [...]

United Nations General Secretary Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday called on nations, organizations and individuals to respect laws passed for the protection of children . Ban's comments come in the wake of an unsuccessful bid by a French charity to fly 103 children out of Chad late last month. Chadian authorities foiled an attempt by [...]

The government of Norway Friday proposed creating laws to allow for the prosecution of war crimes, genocide and terrorism. Current Norwegian law does not specifically include these offenses, and it is standard policy to turn over accused war criminals to international war crime tribunals in The Hague. Norwegian Justice Minister Knut Storberget said that the [...]

The man who shot and paralyzed former Alabama Governor George Wallace in 1972 was released from a Maryland prison Friday. Under the conditions set by the state for the release of Arthur Bremer , he must: Stay away from any local, state, federal, or foreign elected official or office holder as well as a current [...]

California filed a lawsuit Thursday in the US District Court for the District of Columbia against the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in an effort to force the EPA to come to a decision on whether California can impose greenhouse gas emissions standards on cars and light trucks. The EPA considered California's request for a [...]

US District Judge Benjamin Settle issued a preliminary injunction Thursday against holding a second court-martial for Iraq war objector 1st Lt. Ehren Watada until he resolves whether a second court-martial constitutes double jeopardy . Settle had already stayed court-martial proceedings, scheduled to begin last month, and later extended the stay , after Watada asked the [...]

A federal judge Thursday issued an injunction suspending a Washington state law that would require pharmacists to dispense Plan B emergency contraceptives , the so-called "morning-after pill." US District Judge Ronald Leighton's injunction effectively creates a "refuse and refer" system, allowing pharmacists to refuse to sell the pill if they refer the customer to another [...]

Stormans, Incorporated, doing business as Ralph's Thriftwa, et al., v. Mary Selecky, Acting Secretary of the Washington State Department of Health, et al., US District Court Western District of Washington, November 8, 2007 . Read the full text of the order . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.