Iraq's President Jalal Talabani on Wednesday authorized death sentences for three Iraqi men convicted of murder, paving the way for the first legal executions in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime. Talabani, who has opposed capital punishment in the past , said he had instructed Vice President Adil Abdul-Mahdi to approve the hangings. [...]

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has said that North Korea would consider returning to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty if the US stops threatening the country, a Russian envoy who recently met with Kim said Wednesday. Russian presidential envoy Konstantin Pulikovsky met with Kim several times this week and in an interview with a Russian [...]

An Italian court Wednesday ordered that Ethiopian-born Hamdi Issac, a suspect in the failed July 21 London transport attacks , be extradited to Britain within 35 days. The three judge panel allowed the 35-day delay so that Italian authorities could complete their investigation into Issac's activities. Issac, who has admitted his participation in the attacks, [...]

A lawyer in Luxembourg filed suit Tuesday challenging the country's July 10th referendum approving the European Constitution . Lawyer Roy Reding claims the government violated Luxembourg's constitution by providing public funding to support a "yes" vote for the EU constitution but not providing the same funding to support a "no" vote. Reding also alleges that [...]

Pickett et al. v. Tyson, United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, August 16, 2005 . Read the full text of the opinion here . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

The US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Tuesday upheld a ruling by a federal district court in Alabama, throwing out a jury verdict that said that a Tyson Foods subsidiary, Tyson Fresh Meats, manipulated cattle market prices through contracts with beef producers. The appeals court ruled that the cattlemen, who had been awarded [...]

Eighteen people convicted in the 2002 bombings in Bali that killed 202 people, have had their sentences cut by several months to celebrate Indonesia's Independence Day, prison wardens announced Wednesday. It is an Indonesian custom to reduce the sentences of inmates who exhibit good behavior on national holidays, with the exception of those serving life [...]

Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood is seeking to revoke the bail of convicted murderer and former Ku Klux Klan leader Edgar Ray Killen because of pre-trial death threats made by his brother. J.D. Killen allegedly threatened to kill Circuit Judge Marcus Gordon and other individuals in the courtroom, although Killen denies the allegations. Edgar Ray [...]

Following gang riots that left at least 33 prison inmates dead Monday, Guatemalan Interior Minister Carlos Vielmann asked the Guatemalan Congress Tuesday for permission to build new maximum security prisons as part of a new security law. Hundreds of inmates belonging to rival gangs Mara Salvatrucha and Mara 18, living in at least 6 different [...]

The Russian Supreme Court overturned a lower Moscow court decision Tuesday, reversing a ban on the National Bolshevik Party . Although the court did not immediately issue an explanation for their ruling, one is expected to be released soon. Prosecutors, who say theywill appeal Tuesday's decision, attempted to portray the group as a dangerous extremist [...]