A US Department of Justice (DOJ) official told the Senate Judiciary Committee [official websites] Wednesday that the Obama administration supports the reauthorization [statement, PDF] of three provisions of the USA Patriot Act [JURIST news archive] set to expire at the end of the year. Assistant Attorney General for National Security David Kris [official profile] said that the administration supports renewing portions of the act that allow federal authorities to conduct "roving" wiretaps, compel the production of business, medical and library records, and designate suspects as "lone wolf" agents of a foreign power:
With President Barack Obama presiding over a historic session, the U.N. Security Council unanimously approved a U.S.-sponsored resolution Thursday committing all nations to work for a nuclear weapons-free world.
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has written to the European Commission asking to renegotiate the caps on his country´s carbon dioxide emissions, an Italian government official said on Thursday.
Rock god versus pop diva — the music rights debate is producing some unexpected spectacles. Is file sharing creating a generation of people who expect never to pay for music or is it opening up a whole new audience who will save the industry?
Leaders representing 90 percent of the world´s economic output were gathering Thursday in a U.S. city that has reinvented itself, hoping to bolster the global economy.
US Attorney General Eric Holder on Wednesday announced new state secrets ] policies, seeking to establish greater government accountability and oversight.
The French parliament gave final approval Tuesday to a new version of a controversial Internet piracy law that would suspend users´ Internet access after the third violation. The bill was approved by a joint legislative committee of the National Assembly and the Senate [official websites, in French] by a vote of 258-131.
China appealed an August World Trade Organization (WTO) [official website] ruling [text, PDF] Tuesday, arguing that Chinese controls on US imports of books, music, and audiovisual materials do not violate international trade regulations. The dispute [case materials] originally arose in April 2007 when the US filed a complaint over Chinese restrictions allowing certain state-owned companies to reserve the right to import types of entertainment media, effectively forcing US companies to conduct business with only those business channels.
The parties involved in the Google Book Search settlement have asked a federal court to postpone an October hearing to approve the proposed settlement while they work out a new deal.
Brazil wants an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting to discuss the situation at its embassy in Honduras, where the ousted Honduran president has been holed up since returning to his country, the official Brazilian news agency reported.
The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled Monday that states can sue power companies for emitting carbon dioxide, allegedly contributing to global warming. The ruling came in a lawsuit brought by eight states — California, Connecticut, Iowa, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin — as well as New York City and three land trusts against coal-burning utilities American Electric Power, Southern Company, Xcel Energy, Cinergy Corporation, and the Tennessee Valley Authority. In 2005, a judge in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York dismissed the suit, finding that the plaintiffs´ claim was a non-justiciable political question. In reversing that decision, the Second Circuit ruled:
The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania (ACLU-PA) and the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) filed suit Monday on behalf of two groups protesting this week´s Group of 20 (G-20) Summit in Pittsburgh, alleging that police have violated their Constitutional rights. Seeds of Peace and Three Rivers Climate Convergence (3RCC) claim that police searched and seized members of the groups and their property in violation of the Fourth Amendment and that police retaliated against members for exercising their right to free speech under the First Amendment.
Ousted Honduran President Jose Manuel Zelaya returned Monday to the capital city of Honduras, where he said he is planning to meet with his critics to arrange for his return to power.
One day after natural gas distributor Oneok sued social networking site Twitter for trademark infringement, the company said Wednesday the issue has been resolved and it will drop the lawsuit.
A French court on Monday began the trial of former prime minister Dominique de Villepin [BBC profile; JURIST news archive], accused of slandering businessmen and top politicians including current French President Nicolas Sarkozy [official website, in French; JURIST news archive]. De Villepin is accused [AFP report] of having orchestrated the release of a fabricated list of government officials and business people who profited from illegal arms sales, including Sarkozy. Twenty witnesses are expected to testify during the trial, which is likely to run until the end of October. If found guilty, de Villepin could face up to five years in jail and a €45,000 fine.
Italy systematically forces migrants to return to Libya where they face human rights abuses without screening them for possible asylum claims, according to a report [text, PDF; press release] released Monday by Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website]. The report found that Italy often intercepts migrants traveling by boat from Libya and fails to screen migrants for potential refugee status before returning the migrants to Libya. This policy, according to the report, violates a number of international agreements and norms including Article 3 of the European Convention of Human Rights [text] and the principle of non-refoulement [CW backgrounder].
A US military judge on Monday granted the government´s request for a 60-day continuance JURIST report] in the trial of five Guantanamo Bay detainees accused of plotting the 9/11 attacks [JURIST news archives]. Judge Stephen Henley granted the delay in the case of self-proclaimed architect of the attacks Khalid Sheikh Mohammed [BBC profile; JURIST news archive], Ramzi bin al-Shibh [JURIST news archive], and three others, noting that the defendants do not oppose the delay. This is the government´s third continuance in the case, having been granted 120-day continuances in January and May [JURIST reports]. Pentagon prosecutors said Attorney General Eric Holder will decide by November 16 [Miami Herald report] whether to continue the military commission proceedings or to transfer the case to federal court.
Google has won the latest round in a legal row against Louis Vuitton and other brand owners that are trying to stop the search engine from using their trademarks as paid for search terms.
The “magic circle” has lost some of its power: average hourly rates for London’s top commercial lawyers fell by a third last year as law firms offered substantial discounts after competition intensified in the downturn.
European antitrust regulators on Monday published a torrent of internal e-mails and other company documents to back up its record fine against Intel, arguing that they showed computer manufacturers were afraid to cross the chip-making giant.
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