Lawyers for Osama bin Laden's driver are seeking a delay today in his scheduled pretrial hearing before a US military commission at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Salim Ahmed Hamdan, who drove the al-Qaida leader, is charged with conspiracy. His military-appointed attorney, Lt. Cmdr. Charlie Swift, has filed a federal lawsuit arguing that the military commissions set [...]
US District Judge Denise Cote of the Southern District of NY has approved a $2.6 billion settlement between Citigroup and WorldCom (now MCI) investors, one of the biggest class-action lawsuits resulting from a series of corporate scandals. The class-action lawsuit accused Citigroup and other investment banks that underwrote WorldCom bonds of failing to conduct due [...]
Officials from Georgia's Cobb County School District head to federal court today to defend against a lawsuit filed by parents and the ACLU of Georgia accusing the school district of promoting religion by stating in students' science books that evolution is "a theory, not a fact." The lawsuit argues that the disclaimer restricts the teaching [...]
Three House Democrats have called for an official investigation into voting machine irregularities during the 2004 election. Congressmen Robert Wexler of Florida, Jerrold Nadler of New York, and John Conyers of Michigan sent a letter to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) Friday outlining several incidents that they learned about in the days following the election. [...]
Here's a run-down of law-related events, expected developments and live webcasts on JURIST's docket for Monday, Nov. 8. The US Supreme Court hears arguments in two cases Monday, with the first to begin at 10 AM ET. In Devenpeck v. Alford (case summary from Duke Law School), the Court will decide whether an arrest violates [...]
Iran, Britain, France and Germany reached a preliminary agreement in Paris Sunday on Iran's use of nuclear technology. Details of the agreement were not revealed, but an Iranian negotiator says "fundamental principals had been agreed ." While Iran denies the existence of a secret nuclear weapons program, Europe has called for full suspension of all [...]
A referendum in Macedonia designed to block a law that gave its Albanian minority greater rights has failed due to a low turnout. The law, already passed by the Macedonian parliament, redraws local boundaries in the former Yugoslav Republic, and gives the 25% Albanian minority more say over schools, health care policy and jobs. Proponents [...]
The Taliban-related group holding 3 UN workers hostage in Afghanistan has agreed to forego other demands relating to their release in exchange for the release of 26 prisoners, some believed to be held at Guantanamo Bay. A list was given to Afghan officials Sunday and the group has given the government until Tuesday to comply. [...]
The UN Security Council late Saturday issued a statement condemning Ivory Coast air force raids again rebel cities in which eight French peacekeepers attached to the UNOCI (United Nations Operation in the Ivory Coast) were killed, leading to French retaliation in which five Ivory Coast war planes were destroyed, virtually obliterating the government air force. [...]
Authorities in Ghana have arrested 7 people believed to be plotting the overthrow of President John Kufuor (official biography). The suspects are former and current members of the military and the plan allegedly included sabotaging the upcoming presidential election. President Kufuor is expected to win a second term in the December 7 vote. BBC has [...]