South Korean prosecutors on Tuesday charged former prime minister Han Myeong-sook with bribery. Han is accused of accepting USD $50,000 from former Korea Express CEO Kwak Young-wook in 2007 in exchange for helping him become president of Korea South-East Power Co., an affiliate of the state-run Korea Electric Power Corporation . Han, a senior adviser [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Tuesday affirmed a lower court ruling that Microsoft infringed on a patent of Canadian company i4i with portions of its Word 2007 word-processing software. i4i alleged that Microsoft willfully infringed on patents it held on XML technology, which was used extensively in Microsoft Word 2007. [...]

The state of Michigan on Monday filed suit in the US Supreme Court against the state of Illinois seeking to close two waterways that allow invasive Asian carp to reach the Great Lakes. Michigan officials fear that the 100-pound fish, which reproduce rapidly, could wipe out native species and destroy the $7 billion Great Lakes [...]

i4i Limited Partnership, et al. v. Microsoft, US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, December 22, 2009 . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here. Latest commentary available here. JURIST has more on various legal problems Microsoft has dealt with in recent years.

The Lithuanian Parliament National Security Committee reported Tuesday that the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) established two secret prisons for al Qaeda suspects in the Baltic country. Lawmakers demanded the investigation in October after ABC News reported in August that former CIA officials said that Lithuania provided the CIA with facilities for a secret prison [...]

Beijing police issued a formal arrest warrant Monday for a man who organized a website for parents whose children became ill from drinking tainted milk last year. Zhao Lianhai has been charged with picking quarrels and provoking trouble. Zhao's website, "Kidney Stone Babies" , furnishes information and resources for parents whose children were sickened or [...]

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled Tuesday that Bosnia's constitution illegally discriminates against ethnic minorities by not allowing them to run for high political office. The Bosnian Constitution distinguishes between "constituent peoples," which include Bosniacs, Croats, and Serbs, and "others," which include Jews, Roma, and other ethnic minorities. Only "constituent peoples" are eligible [...]

Sudanese lawmakers on Tuesday adopted a law addressing how a 2011 referendum for southern independence will be conducted. Agreed to earlier this month by leaders of the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) of President Omar al-Bashir and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) of Salva Kiir , the referendum will require a 60 percent voter [...]

Gino Raymond : "For most commentators in France, the decision by French state prosecutors that former president Jacques Chirac had no case to answer regarding his alleged financial improprieties during his time as mayor of Paris, left only the theoretical possibility that the examining magistrate handling the allegations, Xavière Simeoni, would nonetheless press ahead with [...]

A spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections said Monday that the state will begin transferring prisoners out of state to reduce prison overcrowding . State officials will transfer 2,000 prisoners , with 1,000 going to a facility in Michigan and another 1,000 going to a Virginia prison. The transfers are scheduled to begin by [...]