Workers who are ill during their holidays can now claim the time back from their employers following a landmark ruling by the European Court of Justice.
The US officially took its place on the UN Human Rights Council for the first time Monday. In an address [text] to the council, US Assistant Secretary for the Organization of International Affairs Esther Brimmer discussed four themes the US sees as key to its role on the council: the universality of human rights, the importance of dialogue between countries, the application of fundamental principles of human rights, and the need for truth and honesty in confronting human rights violations. Brimmer acknowledged that the US had made mistakes regarding human rights in the past but noted the progress of the US in correcting those lapses. The US´s term on the council will expire in 2011.
The Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at former US president George W. Bush was released from prison Tuesday. Muntader al-Zaidi [BBC profile] was originally sentenced to three years on charges of assaulting a foreign leader but later had his sentence reduced [JURIST reports] to one year on a lesser charge of insulting a foreign leader. He was released after serving only nine months because of good behavior. Upon his release, al-Zaidi claimed that he was beaten with pipes and steel cables and that he received electric shocks during his first days in custody.
The 2008 Crime in the US (CIUS) report [materials; report summary] released Monday by the FBI indicates that the level of violent crime in the US dropped by 1.9 percent between 2007 and 2008. Specifically, between 2006 and 2007, the estimated number of forcible rapes dropped by 1.6 percent to 89,000, the lowest figure in the past 20 years. Murders and non-negligent manslaughters dropped by 3.9 percent, aggravated assaults by 2.5 percent, and robberies by 0.7 percent. Additionally, the rate of property crime, which has decreased each year over the past five years, decreased again by about 0.8 percent. The western region of the US showed the largest decrease in violent crimes.
A judge in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York [official website] on Monday rejected [order, PDF] a $33 million settlement agreement [press release] between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) [official website] and Bank of America (BOA) [corporate website]. The SEC had charged BOA with misleading investors [complaint, PDF; JURIST report] regarding billions of dollars paid to Merrill Lynch [corporate website] executives during the acquisition of the firm. Judge Jed Rakoff rejected the settlement agreement and ordered a trial on the SEC´s allegations, finding that it was unfair to shareholders:
The Seoul Central District Court on Monday found Microsoft [corporate website] in violation of South Korea´s antitrust laws for bundling software programs with its Windows operating system. The court found the company´s bundling practice to be in violation of fair competition rules and disruptive to the market. The court also dismissed a demand by South Korean software company Dideonet [corporate website] for almost $81 million dollars for damages allegedly suffered as a direct result of the bundling, noting a lack of evidence. This is the second suit within a few months in which Microsoft has been found liable for breach of South Korean antitrust laws. In June, the same court ruled that Microsoft violated antitrust laws [JURIST report] by packaging software with its Windows operating system, also dismissing requests for damages from two Korean software firms on the grounds that the damages were not sufficiently linked to Microsoft´s conduct.
Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner proposed a new bill Friday that would erase libel and slander as crimes, part of a broader plan to change the way Argentina´s telecommunications businesses are run. Opponents of that bill argue that its provisions, particularly those opening up cable television services to telephone companies, are aimed at helping companies sympathetic to Kirchner. The media bill would also stop anti-competitiveness and create a new agency to govern appropriate content.
A federal appeals court on Friday affirmed a lower court ruling that Microsoft infringed on a patent owned by Alcatel-Lucent, but said the jury award of $358 million in damages was excessive.
Sean Conway was steamed at a Fort Lauderdale judge, so he did what millions of angry people do these days: he blogged about her, saying she was an “Evil, Unfair Witch.”
The European Union will not lift sanctions on Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and his allies until the country improves its human rights record and moves ahead on a power-sharing plan, an EU official said Sunday.
The US Supreme Court on Friday effectively required California to carry out a lower court´s order and come up with a plan to reduce the number of inmates in its prisons. In a brief order, the Court said that it would not stay an earlier order by a special federal court panel compelling California to create a plan that will reduce the state´s overcrowding from its current level of 190 percent of maximum capacity to a more manageable 137.5 percent. The Supreme Court, however, noted that California was only appealing its need to create a plan to reduce prison overcrowding and that, ultimately, the Supreme Court would have a say in the special panel´s final order for the California prison system.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a complaint Friday in the US District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania claiming that the US Secret Service, the City of Pittsburgh and the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources are acting illegally by failing to issue protest permits for the Group of 20 (G-20) summit scheduled in Pittsburgh on September 24-25.
Former Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian was convicted Friday on corruption and money laundering charges, and was sentenced to life in prison, according to officials at Taipei City Court.
US Department of Defense (DOD) general counsel Jeh Johnson said Thursday that the Obama administration remains committed to closing the military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay by early next year. Speaking before the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Law and National Security, Johnson said that the administration was still hoping to meet the January deadline for the facility´s closure but that there were many challenges. Johnson also criticized recently released memos and reports that authorized harsh interrogation techniques, but made no comment on Attorney General Eric Holder´s pending investigation into torture allegations.
The Uruguayan Senate [official website, in Spanish] voted 17-6 to approve [press release, in Spanish] a law legalizing adoption by same sex couples. The new law will permit adoptions by couples in both marriages and civil unions after four years of cohabitation. The bill includes other reforms to the Childhood and Adolescence Code [text, PDF, in Spanish], which governs adoptions, including giving the Children´s and Adolescents´ Institute of Uruguay (INAU) [official website, in Spanish] a more central role in the adoption process, shortening the adoption process, and removing the abandonment determination requirement in favor of an adoptability determination for a child to be eligible for adoption. The Senate initially voted to approve the bill in July, but changes made to the bill in the Uruguayan House of Representatives [official website, in Spanish], which approved [JURIST report] it last moth, necessitated a second vote. The bill continues to generate much controversy among conservative sectors like the Catholic Church, which have voiced strong opposition alleging concern for children´s welfare. The bill must now be signed by President Tabare Vazquez [BBC profile], who has expressed support for the reforms.
Spanish National Court Judge Baltasar Garzon testified Wednesday before the Criminal Law Chamber of the Spanish Supreme Court in response to accusations that he exceeded his authority when he launched an investigation into war crimes allegedly committed under Francisco Franco despite a 1977 amnesty law.
Mexican President Felipe Calderon on Monday accepted the resignation of Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora, a key player in Mexico´s efforts against drug cartels and drug-related violence. Medina Mora will be replaced by the former attorney general of a northern Mexican state, Arturo Chavez. In his address to the media, Calderon said:
The German Bundestag approved a bill Tuesday that will allow Germany to ratify the EU reform treaty, known as the Lisbon Treaty. Although both houses of Germany´s parliament had previously approved the treaty, the German Constitutional Court ruled in June that the treaty could not be ratified without certain parliamentary reforms ensuring Germany´s sovereignty.
A judge in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York ruled Tuesday that the state of New York has violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by segregating mentally ill New York City residents in private homes under poor conditions. Disability Advocates, Inc. (DAI) brought the suit in 2003 arguing that Judge Nicholas Garaufis should enjoin the practice of sending mentally ill people into these homes. While Garaufis stopped short of issuing the injunction, he did direct the state to come up with a remedial plan by mid-October, finding:
A UK jury found three men guilty of conspiracy to murder after plotting to blow up transatlantic flights using liquid explosives. The three men, Abdulla Ahmed Ali, Assad Sarwar, and Tanvid Hussain, were part of a larger plot allegedly organized by British national Rashid Rauf, arrested in Pakistan. Four other suspects were not convicted and two more must be retried after the juries could not decide upon their guilt. Scotland Yard said the case involved the most evidence that has ever been brought against a suspect at a terrorism trial. All three are expected to receive their sentences on September 14.
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