In Tuesday's corporations and securities law news, Oracle's hostile bid for PeopleSoft Inc. has not been defeated as top shareholders in PeopleSoft are split on whether to accept the bid. Capital Guardian Trust Co. will tender its 10% stake to Oracle while Private Capital Management LP will not vote its 9.3% stake because PeopleSoft may [...]

A video obtained in Iraq appears to show that Margaret Hassan, an aid worker of dual British and Iraqi nationality taken hostage last month, has been murdered, her family and the British government said Tuesday. Hassan, who was director of CARE International's Iraq operations, was kidnapped Oct. 19 while on her way to work. Several [...]

BBC News is reporting that a Spanish court has sentenced a 16 year-old boy to six years in jail after he admitted handling explosives used in the Madrid train bombings. The sentencing is the first in connection with the March 11, 2004 terror attacks that took almost 200 lives. 12:50 PM ET – BBC News [...]

Mark Thatcher, son of former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, was charged Tuesday along with seven others for alleged involvement in a failed coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea. Reports differed on whether 51-year-old Thatcher, who is currently being held on charges in South Africa, would be tried in absentia or extradited to face the charges. [...]

A federal judge has refused to overturn the fraud and conspiracy convictions of Adelphia Communications founder and former chairman John Rigas and former CFO Timothy Rigas. The pair were convicted of one count of conspiracy, 15 counts of securities fraud, and two counts of bank fraud for looting the company and lying about its finances. [...]

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press has released a report on US Attorney General nominee Alberto Gonzales concluding that while he recognizes First Amendment interests in newsgathering and reporting, his record as a Texas Supreme Court judge and as White House counsel advising the President on such matters as Presidential papers, the Cheney [...]

Peter Henning, Wayne State University School: "The Subcommittee on Financial Management, the Budget, and International Security of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee will be holding a hearing today (Nov. 16) on the state of the insurance industry in light of the various investigations of industry practices that have been the subject of two lawsuits filed [...]

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and former UN war crimes chief prosecutor Louise Arbour issued a statement Tuesday expressing "deep concern" over the situation of civilians in Fallujah and calling for an investigation into possible violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law: There have been a number of reports during the current [...]

The UN Security Council arrives in Nairobi, Kenya on Tuesday in preparation for its official meetings on the peace process in Sudan on Thursday. The meeting marks only the fourth time that the UN Security Council has ever held official proceedings outside of the normal New York City headquarters. Secretary-General Kofi Annan will also be [...]

Ian Solomon, Yale Law School: "Could we have been so naive? Thousands of the country's most credentialed lawyers flocked to Florida to guarantee a fair election. Did we inadvertently miss an election debacle even greater than that of 2000 and negligently allow our client to concede? I am a Kerry supporter and a Bush critic. [...]