Michael Newdow {JURIST Newsmaker], the same individual who sued to have the words "under God" removed from the Pledge of Allegiance, has filed a suit to bar the planned recitation of a prayer at the presidential inauguration on January 20. Newdow argues that the use of prayer at a government ceremony is a violation of [...]

Two Iraqis formerly held as detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad are scheduled to testify by videotape today as part of the prosecution of Spc. Charles Graner on multiple charges of mistreating prisoners at the facility. In opening arguments Monday before a military jury at Fort Hood. Texas, Graner attorney Guy Womack downplayed [...]

The US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered Monday that a Bible had to be removed from a display funded by the private homeless mission Star of Hope outside the courthouse in Harris County, Texas . The County had requested that the display be allowed to remain pending the outcome of an appeal to overturn [...]

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has announced in the House of Commons that the last four Britons held by the US at the terror suspect detention camp at Guantanamo Bay will be released in a few weeks. UK Attorney General Lord Goldsmith talked to the BBC this morning about the four – Moazzam Begg from [...]

The Central Election Commission of Ukraine late Monday certified opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko the winner of the December 26 re-vote over former Prime Minister Viktor Yanukoyvch. Under Ukrainian law the certification must now be approved by the Ukrainian Supreme Court and published in two newspapers. Completion of the process is expected to substatively bring to [...]

Internal audit reports on the UN Oil-for-Food Programme, UN Office of Internal Oversight Services; posted by the Independent Inquiry Committee Into the UN Oil-for-Food Programme, January 9, 2005 . Review the full text of the 58 separate audit reports here. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

Testimony of Dean Harold Hongju Koh, Yale Law School, on the nomination of Alberto Gonzales for the post of US Attorney General, January 6, 2005. Read the full text of Koh's statement here . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

The Palestinian Central Election Commission Monday issued provisional final results for Sunday's presidential election, awarding victory to PLO chairman Mahmoud Abbas with 62.32% of the vote, far ahead of second place human right activist Mustafa Barghouti, who received 19.80%. The margin of Abbas's victory was only slightly less than exit polls had predicted Sunday night [...]

Officials from the Sudan People's Liberation Movement have begun preparations to establish their regional capital city in Rumbek, some 560 miles south of the governmental capital city of Khartoum. The establishment of an independent southern capital in Sudan was part of the historic peace agreement signed on Sunday by officials from the two warring factions. [...]

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has called for Massachusetts authorities to cease collecting DNA from the Truro, MA community in a letter released Monday. The DNA collection is an effort by the Truro police department and Cape Cod district attorney's office to solve a 3-year-old murder of Christa Worthington. ACLU Executive Director Carol Rose [...]