US District Judge Rosemary M. Collyer late Saturday blocked out-of-country transfers of 13 Yemeni detainees held by the US at Guantanamo Bay pending a hearing on their lawyers' request for 30-days notice to allow investigation of whether they might face torture or indefinite detention in their home countries. The lawyers filed their action after learning [...]
The Spanish Interior Ministry said Saturday that it had arrested some 41 people, including seven lawyers, for money laundering of some $337 million that may have involved funds from troubled Russian oil company Yukos . The international money laundering operation is the largest ever discovered in Spain; the Yukos money appears to have come from [...]
The presidium of China's National People's Congress (NPC) announced Saturday that the nation's legislators will vote Monday on the passing of the Anti-Secession Law , aimed to foretall Taiwan's secession from China and to promote peaceful reunification and territorial integrity. The proposal, however, allows for the use of force by China's 2.5 million strong People's [...]
Brian Nichols, 33, who fled an Atlanta courthouse after Friday's fatal shootings of Judge Rowland Barnes and two others was arrested Saturday, ending the largest manhunt in Georgia state history. Nichols was taken into custody in an apartment complex north of Atlanta, after a woman called authorities to tell them that Nichols had entered her [...]
The New York Times reported Saturday that as-yet-unreleased investigative reports obtained by Human Rights Watch reveal that the 2002 deaths of two Afghan prisoners in US custody resulted from them being chained and beaten by American soldiers at Bagram Control Point near Kabul. In a closed military hearing last month in Texas, Pfc. Willie V. [...]
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) released a six-page order Friday evening suggesting that the Enron Corp. was engaging in illegal activity when it entered contracts with utility companies and cities during the energy crisis of 2000-01. The order marked the first time the commission has noted that such contracts may have been signed fraudulently. [...]
China's State Council Saturday approved the resignation of Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa, submitted earlier this week . While Tung cited his failing health as his reason for resigning, some believe he was pushed out by the Chinese government for poor handling of the SARS outbreak and domestic legal and economic issues. China [...]
UK Home Secretary Charles Clarke Saturday issued the first "control orders" limiting the movements of uncharged terror suspects under authority granted by the Prevention of Terrorism Act that was passed by Parliament Friday. The orders were issued against a total of 10 suspects previously released on bail under strict conditions. Pursuant to a compromise provision [...]
At the instance of UK Members of Parliament, the Bar Council , the governing body for English barristers, is launching an independent inquiry into the legal advice that England's Attorney General provided to Prime Minister Tony Blair in 2003 on the legality of going to war with Iraq. The inquiry follows revelations late this week [...]
The US Department of Justice announced Friday that the government will pay over $25 million to Holocaust survivors, settling a long term class action suit over the US Army's pilfering of the Hungarian Gold Train . The train contained valuables belonging to the survivors that was loaded by the Hungarian Nazi government trying to move [...]