A controversial bankruptcy bill first introduced in 1997 goes up for consideration again Monday in the US Senate . The bill aims to limit the ability of consumers to declare bankruptcy and have their debts nullified. Republican Senator Chuck Grassley , author of the legislation, asserts that instead of being used as a last resort, [...]

Saajid Badat, a British citizen, pleaded guilty in court in London Monday on charges of conspiring to place an explosive device on an aircraft in service. Prosecutors plea-bargained Badat in light of evidence indicating that he voluntarily withdrew from the plot after returning from his training. Badat, a 25 year old from Gloucester, received suicide [...]

Mohamed ElBaradei , Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency , called Monday for Iran to be more open and proactive in providing information to the UN nuclear watchdog organization concerning its nuclear programs. His remarks were made at the opening session of the IAEA Board of Directors meeting, just one day after Iran [...]

Opposition parties, as well as election monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe , alleged Monday that fraud had tainted the weekend parliamentary elections held in Tajikistan . Tajikistan's largest opposition party, the Islamic Renaissance Party, has accused government agents of vote-rigging and false reporting. OSCE observers stated that they witnessed "direct [...]

Citizens in Burundi voted Monday for the first time in 12 years on a constitutional referendum. The proposed constitution is designed to create an ethnically balanced government for the nation that has been suffering from an intense civil war ever since President Melchior Ndaday, Burundi's first democratically elected president, was assassinated by Tutsi rebels following [...]

Here's a run-down of law-related events, expected developments and live webcasts on JURIST's docket for Monday, Feb. 28. The US Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in two cases beginning at 10 AM ET today. In Spector v. Norwegian Cruise Line Ltd. , 03-1388, the Court will decide whether Title III of the [...]

Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, World Health Organization, entered into force February 27, 2005. Read the full text of the treaty . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

Approximately 50 British soldiers are facing court martial for murder, manslaughter, assault and other crimes in Iraq. The allegations against them are contained in secret military documents obtained by London's Sunday Telegraph . The documents show that almost 3 times the number of soldiers face charges than has been admitted by the British Ministry of [...]

A new World Health Organization-sponsored treaty aimed at preventing children from smoking and helping adults quit goes into effect Sunday , but its impact on the US remains to be seen. The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control gives members three years to require strong health warnings on tobacco products and five years to ban advertising, [...]

Iraqi security forces say they have arrested Saddam Hussein's half-brother , the first top-level Baathist to be caught in a year. Sabawi Ibrahim al-Hassan was number 36 (6 of diamonds) on the list of 55 most-wanted Iraqis , and the US government had a $1 million bounty on his head. It was unknown if any [...]