The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Monday in two cases. In Renico v. Lett , the court heard arguments on whether double jeopardy is violated by a new trial after a state trial court declared a mistrial due to the jury's inability to reach a verdict. The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth [...]

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed a bill Monday re-implementing a ban on human cloning in Russia, according to the Kremlin Press Service. The bill, which replaces a previous ban on human cloning that expired in 2007, prohibits attempts to clone human beings until the state determines how to regulate the practice. The bill does not [...]

Some forms of online piracy in France are on the rise in spite of the recently passed anti-piracy law , according to a March study conducted by the Marsouin Unit at the University of Rennes . While 15 percent of individuals using Peer-to-Peer networking have stopped using such sites, Internet piracy has increased by 3 [...]

A federal grand jury in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan on Monday returned a five-count indictment against nine suspected members of the Hutaree "militia" group accused of plotting to kill police officers. The group members allegedly planned to kill Michigan law enforcement officers by, among other methods, making phony 911 [...]

Nigerien police arrested a dozen former ministers and officials loyal to ousted president Mamadou Tandja late Sunday. The close aides to Tandja, including former finance minister Lamine Zeine, former justice minister Garba Lompo, and former minister of public works Lamido Oumarou, were detained and questioned on charges of plotting and carrying out subversive activities against [...]

The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled Monday that France had not violated the rights of detainees to be brought promptly before a judicial officer. In a case brought by crewmembers of a Cambodian ship intercepted by French authorities under suspicion of carrying significant quantities of narcotics, the ECHR found [...]

Myanmar's largest opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD) , announced Monday that it will not participate in the nation's first elections in 20 years because of "unjust" election laws . A spokesperson for the NLD explained that the party had unanimously decided not to register for the elections because they viewed the nation's [...]

A Quezon City court on Monday dismissed rebellion charges against 24 people, including Andal Ampatuan Sr., the leader of a Muslim clan in the Philippines' semi-autonomous southern province of Maguindanao, and four of his family members. The Philippines Department of Justice had implicated Ampatuan and several of his followers in the November slayings of 57 [...]

US President Barack Obama on Sunday urged the Afghan government to reduce corruption and institute an effective judicial system. During a surprise visit to the country, Obama called on Afghan President Hamid Karzai to take steps to promote good governance , end cronyism, and curtail the opium trade . US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs [...]

A Chinese court on Monday convicted four employees of Australian mining company Rio Tinto of receiving bribes and stealing commercial secretes. Rio Tinto's Shanghai manager, Australian national Stern Hu, and three Chinese colleagues were sentenced to between seven and 14 years in prison for accepting around USD $13.5 million in bribes and using "improper means" [...]