Maurice Strong , a special adviser for North Korea to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and a prominent Canadian business executive, will not continue his position as top UN envoy to North Korea, according to UN officials. In recent months, Strong has been implicated in the Iraq oil-for-food scandal based on his ties to South [...]

The National Rifle Association Monday announced plans to relocate its 2007 national convention from Columbus, Ohio after the Columbus City Council approved an assualt weapons ban. The ban , extends the Federal Assault Weapons Ban, which expired on September 13, 2004 , and outlaws 19 types of military-style assault weapons in the city. In a [...]

The Lebanese parliament voted Monday to grant amnesty to former militia leader Samir Geagea . Geagea, Lebanese Forces militia leader during the 1975-90 civil war, was arrested in 1994 and sentenced to three consecutive life terms for his involvement in crimes during Lebanon's civil war, including the murder of a prime minister. Lebanese President Emile [...]

US officials at Guantanamo Bay Monday extradited Moroccan Lahcen Ikassrien to Spain to answer charges that he assisted al-Qaida cell leader Imad Eddin Barakat Yarkas in planning the September 11 attacks. Ikassrien was arrested and sent to the prisoner camp in late 2001. Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon first petitioned the US to extradite Ikassrien, later [...]

Leading Monday's securities and corporations law news, the SEC has charged three men with conning investors in a microcap scam. The scam involved sending faxes that were designed to look like a confidential stock tip from a financial planner to a client. In a press release, the SEC said that in 2 separate scams the [...]

Leading Monday's states brief, the California Supreme Court ruled today that a boss's sexual affairs with subordinates may result in the sexual harassment of other employees in violation of the state's Fair Employment and Housing Act . In the case, two former state prison employees alleged that the warden was having affairs with several women [...]

The US Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia will take up the case of Jose Padilla Tuesday, the latest in a series of twists and turns the litigation has taken. The proceeding comes after the US Supreme Court refused to hear Padilla's expedited challenge to his "enemy combatant" status in June, instead directing [...]

In an about-face from an earlier decision , the US Department of Justice is appealing to the US Supreme Court in an attempt to reinstate $280 billion in damages in its lawsuit against tobacco companies. Government lawyers previously defended their decision to drastically reduce the amount sought in response to a ruling that federal law [...]

Giovanni di Stefano , a lawyer for Saddam Hussein, said once again Monday that the insurgency in Iraq has created an unsafe environment for the trial of the former dictator and that the venue should be changed to a more stable country. Di Stefano argued that because some in Iraq feel strongly that Saddam should [...]

UK Home Office Secretary Charles Clarke said on Monday that the three main political parties in the UK – Labour, the Conservatives, and the Liberal-Democrats – have reached an agreement in principal regarding new anti-terrorism legislation in the wake of the London bombings. Legislation targeting preparation for and planning of terrorist attacks will be introduced [...]