A US district judge Thursday rejected a request by former US vice-presidential aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby that his prison sentence for blocking the probe into the leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity be delayed pending appeal. Libby's lawyers had argued that because his Justice Department superiors recused themselves from the investigation, Special Prosecutor [...]

German Chancellor Angela Merkel Thursday told the lower house of Germany's parliament that she hopes a road map to an eventual European constitution can be achieved at an EU summit in Brussels next week, but expressed doubts that any further progress would be made beyond that. Merkel recognized a number of stumbling blocks that have [...]

The Zimbabwean House of Assembly, the lower chamber of parliament, approved the controversial Interception of Communications Bill Wednesday, authorizing the the directors of Zimbabwe's Central Intelligence Organization , the military, taxation authority, and the Commissioner of Police to intercept communications across the telephone, the internet, and other electronic communication devices. The bill, which will also [...]

Peruvian Prime Minister Jorge del Castillo said Wednesday that Peru will accept a ruling by the Chilean Supreme Court on whether Chile will extradite former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori , emphasizing that Peru will not interfere with the judicial proceedings to avoid the appearance that it is politically persecuting Fujimori. Last Friday, Chilean Supreme Court [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a briefing paper for the European Union (EU) released Thursday that the United Nations had "tarnished its reputation and undermined its legitimacy" by failing to hold individuals in the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and the NATO Kosovo Force (KFOR) accountable for human rights violations committed by [...]

The US Supreme Court handed down decisions in three cases Thursday, including the consolidated cases of Davenport v. Washington Education Association and Washington v. Washington Education Association , where the Court held that states do not violate the First Amendment by barring a labor union from utilizing non-union worker's dues for political purposes if the [...]

An Indonesian police spokesman Wednesday confirmed the weekend arrest of leading terrorist suspect Abu Dujana Wednesday, saying that Dujana was arrested with seven other suspects in a raid that "finished" off the main body of the terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) . Dujana, who has successfully evaded Indonesian authorities since the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings [...]

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Wednesday published new draft guidelines concerning the use of national security letters (NSL) to correct privacy violations revealed in March by a Department of Justice review. The new guidelines, which enter into effect immediately, require FBI agents to identify the specific information being requested and justify its necessity pursuant [...]

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Wednesday filed a class action lawsuit against federal immigration officials from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the San Diego Correctional Facility (SDCF), and the Division of Immigration Health Services (DIHS) , seeking injunctive and declaratory relief on behalf of immigration detainees who allege that inadequate medical and mental [...]

Eric Linge, Pitt Law '09, files from Mumbai: Outbursts of communal violence are common in India. There are Maoist insurgents in the jungles. There are 23 different separatist militias in the eastern hill states. And as I reported in prior weeks, agitated Sikhs have been violently protesting in the northwest and rural dwellers in West [...]