Steve Vladeck : "Is torture or other forms of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment (CIDT) within the scope of government employment? At least somewhat surprisingly, according to this decision by Judge Urbina in the D.C. district court issued yesterday, the answer to that question is "yes." At issue in the suit, Rasul v. Rumsfeld, are [...]

A report released Tuesday by the non-partisan electionline.org monitoring group says that over half of US states have failed to meet the January 1, 2006 deadline set by the 2002 Help America Vote Act for implementing its requirements, which include updating voting machines and voter databases and possibly establishing free voter ID systems. The Act, [...]

US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld acknowledged in testimony before the US Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday that corruption is a serious problem in Iraq, saying that "it's critically important that be attacked and that the new leadership in that country be measured against their commitment to attack corruption." Previously, the Bush administration has shrugged [...]

Leading Tuesday's environmental law news, the European Commission (EC) has announced that it will not be appealing the 2005 European Court of First Instance ruling that held the UK could revise its 2005-07 carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions trading plan without first getting EU approval. The EU emissions trading scheme provides nations with a way to [...]

A French court on Tuesday refused to hear a lawsuit launched to prevent a French newspaper from publishing caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad that have caused protests and violence across the globe. The suit, brought by five Muslim organizations including the moderate Paris Mosque and the fundamentalist Union of Islamic Organizations of France (UOIF) , [...]

A document released to an Australian commission set up to investigate alleged Australian connections to the oil-for-food scandal Tuesday shows that Saddam Hussein personally assisted the Australian Wheat Board (AWB) in grain distribution in Iraq while it was supposedly paying his government kickbacks. The document, written by former AWB executive Dominic Hogan, describes a meeting [...]

Germany's Federal Constitutional Court on Tuesday ordered the release of Moroccan-born Mounir al-Motassadeq , who was convicted last year in connection with the Sept. 11 attacks , while appeals of the conviction are pending. Motassadeq was convicted of participating in a terrorist cell and sentenced to seven years, but both Motassadeq and prosecutors have challenged [...]

Officials from over 100 countries are meeting in Geneva this week to discuss strengthening a United Nations treaty which controls the use of tobacco products worldwide. The two-week conference is underway to determine further provisions for the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control , which went into effect last year . The WHO [...]

Slovak Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda has decided to abandon an agreement with the Vatican , prompting a major breakdown in the Slovak government with the Christian Democrat Movement (KDH) announcing it would leave the government coalition. The controversial document, which has also been criticized by the European Union , contained an "objection of conscience" clause [...]

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Monday criticized a Constitutional Court ruling that halted the court-martial of opposition leader Kizza Besigye on charges of possessing illegal firearms. Museveni vowed to fight the court ruling politically, even suggesting that a referendum may be used. The government has appealed the ruling to the country's supreme court. The Constitutional [...]