The prospects for an EU software patent directive that would create a uniform software patenting system across Europe appeared limited Tuesday as European legislators expressed reservations about the measure. Many legislators and software companies fear that the law would limit innovation and restrict the work of small businesses. Currently, patent disputes are resolved in the [...]

Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald on Tuesday demanded the grand jury testimony of TIME magazine reporter Matthew Cooper, even though TIME has turned over e-mails and other documents to the probe into who leaked the name of CIA operative Valerie Plame . Fitzgerald also opposed the requests of Cooper and New York Times reporter Judith Miller [...]

African leaders Tuesday approved a resolution at the fifth African Union Summit seeking two permanent seats on the expanding UN Security Council . The AU is calling for the number of Council seats be increased from 15 to 26, with six of the new members granted permanent seats with veto rights; two of the other [...]

A German court said Tuesday that Sasser computer worm author Sven Jaschan has admitted to data manipulation, computer sabotage and interfering with public corporations in one of the largest worm attacks conducted on the Internet. The destructive computer worm began knocking out the nearly 1 million computer systems it affected last May by spreading via [...]

The trial of radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza on 16 terrorism-related charges , including promoting the murder of Jews and others, began in London Tuesday. Hamza, who pleaded not guilty to all charges in January, was arrested by British police in May 2004 after US authorities charged him with trying to create a terrorist training [...]

The head of a major UN study on worldwide child abuse opened a conference of government and human rights officials from 52 countries in Europe and Central Asia taking place in Slovenia Tuesday by observing that in many countries, children are "treated like property and have less rights than cats and dogs." Paolo Pinheiro is [...]

The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) announced Tuesday that the trial of former Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj will begin in January 2007. The tribunal also said it expected the trial to take at least a year, and probably some 18 months. Haradinaj resigned after being indicted on charges of crimes against [...]

Iowa Governor Tom Vislack Monday made good on a promise to restore voting rights to convicted felons once their sentences has been served. Last month he announced he would sign an executive order to automatically restore voting privileges on July 4. Previously, offenders had to apply to the governor's office to be allowed to vote [...]

Senior Sunni clerics will soon announce plans to issue a religious edict, or fatwa, encouraging Sunni Muslims in Iraq to join the political process and support the drafting of a new Iraqi constitution, according to Adnan Dulaimi, head of the Sunni Endowment in charge of Sunni religious affairs, speaking Monday. Word of the edict came [...]

A spokesman for the Iranian Judiciary Tuesday denied reports that a man convicted of blinding another person would have his eyes surgically removed, saying the country would not carry out such a punishment. Earlier, an Iranian newspaper reported that the Iranian Supreme Court had rejected the appeal of a man sentenced to have his eyes [...]