Ali Hassan al-Majid , better known in the Western media as "Chemical Ali," was admitted to a US medical facility in Iraq on Sunday, the US military said Monday. Al-Majid had reportedly been on a hunger strike since Friday, but is now in stable condition after passing out Sunday. One of al-Majid's co-defendants has also [...]

Richard C. Dieter : "On April 16, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a splintered decision on the constitutionality of Kentucky's lethal injection process. Despite the seven different opinions, there were many aspects of the decision that were not surprising, and a few aspects which most people did not see coming. It was not surprising that [...]

John Cummings : "The decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in Baze v. Rees represents a sweeping vindication of the Commonwealth of Kentucky's execution procedures against constitutional attack. The plurality opinion confirms that the safeguards contained in Kentucky's lethal injection protocol eliminate any substantial risk of harm to condemned inmates. The decision also confirms the [...]

The US Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear three cases , including the consolidated cases of US v. Eurodif (07-1059) and USEC v. Eurodif (07-1078) where the Court will consider whether the federal government can impose anti-dumping tariffs on contracts for uranium enrichment services. The key issues in the cases center on whether raw [...]

The US Department of the Treasury issued proposed regulations Monday designed to implement the Foreign Investment and National Security Act of 2007 . In January, US President George W. Bush issued an executive order similarly designed to implement the Act, which expands the investigative scope of the Treasury Department's Committee on Foreign Investment in the [...]

White House lawyers argued on Monday before a federal appeals court that White House visitor logs maintained by the Secret Service are executive branch documents and thus not subject to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. The appeals court judges hearing the case seemed skeptical of the administration's arguments that the visitor logs should be [...]

The US Supreme Court Monday denied without comment petitions for certiorari filed by 10 death row inmates seeking to have their executions blocked. Last Wednesday, the Supreme Court ruled that lethal injection does not violate the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. Three of the inmates whose petitions were denied Monday were previously [...]

Australia has acquired exploration and drilling rights to an additional 2.5 million square kilometers of ocean shelf after a UN commission ruled that Australia's continental shelf extends farther than previously defined, the Australian government said Monday. The UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) is the body charged with administering the 1994 [...]

Afghan President Hamid Karzai rejected calls for the reinstatement of a moratorium on the death penalty Monday, saying that while he prefers life sentences, he will abide by Islamic law's sanctioning of the death penalty for certain crimes, including the kidnapping and murder. Under Afghan law, President Karzai is required to sign execution orders after [...]

Sergei Ordzhonikidze, director-general of the UN Office at Geneva , on Monday urged UN member states to advance the cause for human rights by increasing arms control efforts, saying that the improvement of human rights in developing regions will enhance long-term peace, stability, and contribute to sustainable development. Ordzhonikidze comments came during the inaugural Beijing [...]