French voters Sunday went to the polls in a referendum on France's ratification of the proposed European constitution. Recent polls suggest a likely win for the "no" side in a vigorous national debate that has been clouded by the domestic unpopularity of the current French government. Early turnout appears to be fairly high on the [...]

Following a series of delays, Israel's Cabinet Sunday approved the release of 400 Palestinian prisoners. Cabinet members voted 18-3 to approve the release, which is the second phase of the 900 Palestinian prisoners negotiated as part of February 8 truce . A panel will now meet to compile a list of those eligible to be [...]

The Illinois Senate voted Saturday to ban the sale of violent or sexually explicit video games to minors. The Safe Games Act , would punish sales clerks who knowingly sell adult video games to minors. A seller could defend itselfs by showing it did not know the buyer was a minor or that it followed [...]

An Act relating to the representation of certain defendants in capital cases and to the punishment for a capital felony or other felony punishable by a term of imprisonment exceeding 99 years, Texas Senate; SB 60 passed May 28, 2005 . Read the full text of the bill. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

The Texas Senate Saturday approved Senate Bill 60 , which would give jurors in capital murder cases the option of sentencing a defendant to life in prison without parole instead of death. Currently, Texas leads US states in the number of annual executions (24 in 2004); Texas juries can only sentence people convicted of capital [...]

A month-long conference at the United Nations to review the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty ended Friday with no consensus. Ambassador Sergio Duarte of Brazil, President of the 2005 NPT Review Conference told a press briefing that although the conference had accomplished very little, there had been some progress "in the ways issues were discussed and the [...]

Iran's Guardian Council approved a law Saturday that calls on the government to develop nuclear technology to enrich uranium, which could be used to create atomic weapons. The Iranian Parliament passed the bill earlier this month , which then went to the council for approval. The European Union has threatened to take Iran to the [...]

French territories cast their votes on the EU constitution Saturday with the "No" campaign leading in the polls. One survey on Friday indicated a narrowing of the majority's lead in opposing the charter, offering hope to President Jacques Chirac who has been leading the "Yes" campaign . Another survey, however, showed an increase in "No" [...]

Closing Statement by US Ambassador Jackie W. Sanders, Special Representative of the President for the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons to the 2005 Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, May 27, 2005. Excerpt: While this Review Conference did not reach consensus, we did break new ground. This Review Conference is the [...]

The Bush administration has asked the US Second Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn a decision made last year by a US District Court preventing the government from conducting secret searches of communications records. The District Court ruling came in a case considering whether an ISP was required to release records to the FBI. The [...]