The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has released its annual report on worldwide religious freedoms, elevating Iraq and Nigeria to its list of "countries of particular concern" (CPC) and adding six new countries to its "watch list." The other CPC are Burma, North Korea, Eritrea, Iran, Pakistan, China, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, [...]

The UK Home Office on Tuesday published a list of individuals who are prohibited from entering the country "for fostering extremism or hatred between October 2008 and March 2009." The list names 16 individuals, including religious preachers, white supremacists, gang leaders, and controversial US radio host Michael Savage . Six additional individuals whose names were [...]

The annual Webby Awards in Law and more than 100 other subject categories were announced in New York Tuesday as the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences honored excellence in interactive design, creativity, usability, and functionality on the Internet in 2009. Women's advocacy site WomensLaw.org took the judges' Webby, and the People's Voice award, [...]

Spokesperson for the Iranian judiciary Alireza Jamshidi said Tuesday that the appeal of US journalist Roxana Saberi will be heard next week. Saberi was convicted of spying for the US and sentenced to eight years in jail in Evin, an Iranian jail noted for its population of dissidents and political prisoners. Saberi reportedly began a [...]

US Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) was chosen Monday by Senate Republicans to replace newly-declared Democrat Senator Arlen Specter (D-PA) as ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee . Sessions will play a key role in questioning President Barack Obama's nominee to replace retiring Justice David Souter on the US Supreme Court . Obama did not [...]

Judge Gladys Kessler of the US District Court for the District of Columbia ordered Monday the release of Yemeni Guantanamo Bay detainee Alla Ali Bin Ali Ahmed. Ahmed has been held in Guantanamo for seven years after he was picked up in a al Qaeda safehouse in 2002 in Faisalabad, Pakistan where he had been [...]

The US Department of the Treasury on Monday announced reforms to the US tax code to curb overseas tax havens and end tax incentives for companies to create jobs out of the country. In a joint press conference with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner , President Barack Obama said : For years, we've talked about ending [...]

Judges for the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) on Monday rejected a motion for acquittal of all charges filed by lawyers for former Liberian president Charles Taylor . The Rule 98 motion for acquittal , which was submitted last month following the close of the prosecution's case, maintained that the prosecution failed to provide [...]

The US Supreme Court on Monday ordered the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit to reconsider its ruling upholding a $550,000 fine against CBS for the infamous "wardrobe malfunction" incident in which pop singer Janet Jackson's breast was briefly exposed during the 2004 Super Bowl telecast. The Court granted certiorari in FCC v. [...]

Japanese activists demonstrated Sunday on Japan's 62nd Constitution Day to voice opposing views about an approaching referendum on the country's pacifist constitution . Efforts to reform the constitution are particularly focused on Article 9 , which has been interpreted to bar Japan from maintaining military forces and from using force in international conflicts except in [...]