[JURIST] NAACP [advocacy website] leaders say that at least 1,000 members attending the organization's annual convention [meeting website] now underway in Washington, DC will go to Capital Hill this Wednesday to urge the Senate to renew portions of the Voting Rights Act [text; DOJ backgrounder] that are soon to expire. NAACP President Bruce Gordon [NAACP profile] stated that "the NAACP is paying close attention" to the possible renewal of the legislation. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist [official website] stated Friday that he expects easy passage of a bill to renew the Voting Rights Act [JURIST report] when the Senate votes on the measure at the end of July or after the month-long August break.

The House of Representatives passed the renewal bill [JURIST report] on Thursday by a vote of 390-33 after House GOP leaders had to withdraw it from the floor agenda in June after opposition from a number of conservative Southern lawmakers. The Boston Globe has more.

[JURIST] L.K. Advani [party profile], leader of India's opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) [party website], said in a speech [text] Sunday in Bhopal that the July 11 Mumbai train bombings [BBC report] were "a fallout of repealing" the country's Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) [backgrounder; text], set aside by the now-ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) when it came to power in 2004. Advani said POTA had to be revived in order for India to effectively combat terrorism.

Indian law enforcement authorities have thusfar named three suspects [JURIST report] in connection with the bombings and have conducted several sweeps detaining hundreds of people [JURIST report] for questioning. New Kerala has more. Advani previously called for the revival of the Indian anti-terror law [JURIST report] in July 2005 after gunmen attacked a disputed religious shrine in northern India.

1:44 PM ET - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh [official website] has apparently rejected Advani's call by telling reporters later Sunday on board his aircraft headed for the G8 summit in St. Petersburg that "It is far from true that Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) is the only means to deal with terrorists. There are many other ways. We will strengthen our intelligence gathering ability and we will look at the security apparatus, both at the Central and state levels to do that." The Times of India has more.

[JURIST] The British Home Office [official website] is considering enacting rules that would dismiss company directors and seize assets of firms caught employing illegal immigrants, the Sunday Times has reported. Under the new rules, employers could even be punished if contractors or sub-contractors were employing illegal immigrants. A proposal by Home Secretary John Reid [official profile] is said to include a "two strikes and you're out" policy, which allows for the dismissal of board directors if their company violates the law two or more times. Earlier this month, the UK government rejected a potential amnesty program [JURIST report] for illegal immigrants presently in the country. The current proposal is designed to help limit the number of illegal immigrants in the UK, currently estimated at 570,000. The Scotsman has more.

In the United States, separate immigration reform bills [JURIST news archive] passed by the House and Senate but as yet unreconciled similarly provide for increased fines for hiring illegal immigrants [JURIST report], already nominally sanctioned under the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 [text].

[JURIST] North Korea (DPRK) Sunday condemned a UN Security Council resolution [text; JURIST report] passed unanimously Saturday imposing sanctions on the country and demanding that it stop controversial missile tests [JURIST news archive]. The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) [media website] reported an unnamed DPRK Foreign Ministry spokesman as saying that North Korea "vehemently denounces and roundly refutes the UN 'resolution.'" The unidentified spokesman also noted that North Korea will continue to "bolster its war deterrent for self-defense in every way by all means and methods...due to the extremely hostile act of the US." The US has denied that it has any offensive intention toward North Korea.

The comments echo statements made Saturday in New York by the DPRK's ambassador to the UN, who said that the tests were "a legitimate right of a sovereign State" that in that respect North Korea "was neither bound to any international law, nor to bilateral or multilateral agreements." Reuters has more.