Canadian Federal Court judge Marshall E. Rothstein , nominated to replace Justice John Major on the Supreme Court of Canada , was questioned by a parliamentary committee in televised hearings Monday, the first time a nominee to the Canadian high court has faced a US-style confirmation hearing. Rothstein was nominated by Prime Minister Stephen Harper [...]

Several Chinese companies have reportedly donated more than $315,000 to help pay for lawsuits against the Japanese government for war crimes allegedly committed by Japanese troops during their occupation of part of China during World War II. Representatives of three companies told reporters over the weekend that they planned on donating funds to help victims [...]

The US Supreme Court refused Monday to entertain a second appeal by convicted murderer Clarence Hill in which his lawyers argued that Florida's system of death by lethal injection amounted to a cruel and unusual punishment. The decision has little practical significance, as Hill's execution has already been stayed pending an appeal that the Supreme [...]

US military judge Lt. Col. Paul McConnell Monday delayed the start of a court-martial trial for an army dog handler accused in an Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal. The March 8 trial date for Sgt. Santos Cardona has been pushed back to May 22 to allow the defense more time to prepare. Cardona is charged [...]

Prisoners in Kabul's Policharki Prison who rioted over the weekend agreed Monday to temporarily end their disturbance and allow injured inmates to be removed for medical care, according to the chief negotiator for the Afghan government. Sibghatullah Mojaddedi also reported an inmate request that the prison authorities help to bury the dead. In exchange for [...]

A federal judge blocked the Department of Defense Monday from enacting a merit pay system for its government employees. US District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan said the proposed National Security Personnel System would make it unfairly difficult for employees to appeal unfavorable personnel decisions. A lawsuit challenging the system was filed in November by the [...]

Mexico's "scorched-earth" campaign in the 1960s and 1970s resulted in crimes against humanity, including genocide, torture, executions and disappearances, according to a draft report made public by the National Security Archive at George Washington University. The report, commissioned by Mexican President Vicente Fox , was presented to special prosecutor Ignacio Carrillo Prieto in December but [...]

In a letter sent to President Bush Monday, 17 Democrats from the US House of Representatives called for the appointment of a special counsel to investigate allegations that the National Security Agency conducted warrantless surveillance of US citizens in violation of the Fourth Amendment and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act . The call for presidential [...]

Six law professors at Cambridge University have warned that an innocuous-sounding bill now going through Parliament would give UK government ministers the power to abolish jury trials, place citizens under house arrest, and rewrite the law on nationality and immigration, all without Parliamentary consent. In a letter published Sunday in the Times of London, the [...]

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has agreed to meet with opposition leaders to discuss constitutional reforms, after the parties threatened to boycott the April elections. Thaksin dissolved Parliament on February 24 in response to street protests calling for his removal and set general elections for April 2. One issue on the ballot will be whether [...]