Merrill Lynch said Friday it will pay $164 million to settle 23 class action lawsuits involving Merrill Lynch's research of internet companies in the 1990s. Merrill Lynch filed a report with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday, informing them of the settlement plan and stating that the courts must still approve it. As [...]

US District Court Judge Marcia Cooke on Thursday upheld a previous district court ruling denying bail for alleged "dirty bomber" Jose Padilla , agreeing with federal prosecutors who say his history of skipping bail makes him a flight risk, and that he would pose a significant threat to the community if released. Padilla, whose trial [...]

The Supreme Court of Nepal on Friday ordered the government to free 37 politicians who had been detained for opposing the direct rule of King Gyanendra , saying that the court did not find any legitimate reason for the detentions. The government arrested hundreds of politicians and activists in the past few weeks in an [...]

The Rwandan Supreme Court on Friday rejected the appeal of former Rwandan President Pasteur Bizimungu , who had asked the court to overturn his 15-year criminal sentence for inciting violence, embezzlement, and associating with criminals. Bizimungu, the country's first president after the 1994 Rwandan genocide , had argued that his arrest and conviction had been [...]

Czech Republic President Vaclav Klaus has vetoed a bill that would provide same-sex partners with access to medical information, property inheritance, and the right to raise children equal to that of married couples, among other things. Klaus' veto was expected , and the president said Thursday that the veto was an outgrowth of his view [...]

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Thursday reaffirmed the US commitment to ending what she called the "genocide" in Sudan's troubled Darfur region, telling members of the House International Relations Committee that "the United States is appalled by the ongoing atrocities that have persisted" there. Senior US officials first described the Darfur situation as genocide [...]

Leading Friday's environmental law news, the US Environmental Protection Agency has begun efforts to secure a multilateral agreement to reduce air pollution in the central US. The Blue Skyways Collaborative was introduced at a meeting of representatives from the EPA, 8 states, corporate interests, agriculture associations, environmental groups, Canada and Mexico. Blue Skyways, which roughly [...]

US District Judge David G. Trager has granted the US Justice Department's request for dismissal of a civil rights lawsuit filed by Maher Arar , in what is believed to be the first suit filed challenging US extraordinary rendition practices. The Syrian-born Canadian was detained in 2002 during a layover at New York's JFK airport [...]

A New York appeals court has ruled that the state's marriage law, which allows marriage between a man and a woman but not between same-sex couples, is constitutional. The 5-0 decision covers three separate cases filed on behalf of same-sex couples who were denied marriage licenses. The couples argued that the Domestic Relations Law , [...]

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has called for the United States to close its Guantanamo Bay detention facility as soon as possible, reiterating the conclusions of a 54 page report released Thursday by a UN-appointed independent panel. Annan said:There is a lot in the report, and I cannot say that I necessarily agree with everything [...]