The US House of Representatives passed two resolutions Tuesday intended to speed up the House's internal investigation of Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) , who was indicted this week for allegedly accepting $500,000 in bribes. John Boehner (R-OH) proposed a resolution requiring the House Ethics Committee to report on whether the charges against Jefferson are severe [...]

The government of Myanmar announced plans Tuesday to reconvene negotiations on a new constitution for a final session next month. The national constitutional drafting convention, tasked with creating guidelines for a more democratic constitution, has been on hold since December 2006. The country's military regime announced the plan after being criticized by the West for [...]

A US federal judge extended a temporary restraining order Tuesday, blocking the Texas town of Farmers Branch , a suburb of Dallas, from enforcing a law that would bar landlords from renting apartments to most illegal immigrants. The restraining order will be in effect until June 19, when Judge Sam Lindsay plans to rule on [...]

A German state court Tuesday upheld a ban on religious headscarves in public schools and affirmed the right of a school not to employ a teacher who said she would be unable to follow that law. The teacher argued the law was discriminatory and violated religious freedom. In upholding the law and finding the headscarf [...]

Three relatives of a Chinese-American engineer convicted earlier this year of conspiring to smuggle sensitive naval intelligence data to China have pleaded guilty to related charges as part of a plea agreement . Appearing before a judge of the US District Court for the Central District of California , Tai Mak, brother of former Power [...]

Thailand's interim-government Monday lifted a ban on political activities that had been in place since the 2006 bloodless coup , which will allow the dissolved political party Thai Rak Thai (TRT) to reform. The ban, which was lifted by Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont and his cabinet, will have to be backed by legislation passed in [...]

The Durban High Court in South Africa granted an execution order Tuesday allowing the country's National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to seek documents obtained by the Mauritius government which are believed to evidence meetings between former South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma and arms manufacturer Thint. Prosecutors are considering charging Zuma with corruption for allegedly receiving [...]

Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act , passed by the California State Assembly, June 5, 2007 . Read the full text of the bill. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

Karunakaran Kandasamy, the alleged director of the American branch of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) , and four other defendants pleaded not in US federal court guilty Monday to charges of providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization, conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, and bribing public officials. [...]

US District Judge Reggie B. Walton sentenced former vice-presidential aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby to 30 months in prison Tuesday for his conviction on two counts of perjury, one count of lying to the FBI and one count of obstruction of justice. Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald had urged that Libby be sentenced to up to [...]