A judge for the Supreme Court of Singapore ruled Thursday that a Wall Journal Journal Asia (WSJ-Asia) editor was in contempt of court and personally liable for damages for publishing two editorials and a letter that criticized the impartiality of the city-state's judiciary. Judge Tay Yong Kwang ordered Melanie Kirkpatrick to pay USD $13,000 in [...]

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Wednesday charged accountant David Friehling with fraud for his alleged role in the securities fraud scheme committed by financier Bernard Madoff . In the complaint, the SEC alleges that Friehling and his accounting firm made fraudulent representations that they had audited Madoff's records in accordance with Generally [...]

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Tuesday called on US Attorney General Eric Holder to commission a special prosecutor  to investigate tactics used by CIA interrogators against terrorism suspects. ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero said in a letter to Holder that recently published characterizations of CIA methods as torture by the International Committee of [...]

A US magistrate judge in South Carolina ruled Wednesday that suspected al Qaeda operative Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri must remain in prison as the criminal case against him proceeds. Judge Robert Carr denied al-Marri's request to be freed on bail, finding that he had failed to prove that he was not a danger to the [...]

The High Constitutional Court of Madagascar announced in a radio address Wednesday that it would accept the military's decision to install opposition leader Andry Rajoelina as the country's new president, one day after the resignation of President Marc Ravalomanana . The court approved the presidency of 34-year-old Rajoelina despite a requirement in Madagascar's constitution that [...]

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Tuesday praised the reinstatement of Pakistan Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry . Pillay's spokesman called the move "an important step in the process of restoring the rule of law in Pakistan," adding that judicial integrity is needed if Pakistan is to make progress in [...]

The administration of US President Barack Obama intends to endorse a UN declaration that calls for decriminalizing homosexuality, according to an anonymous official quoted in a Tuesday Associated Press report . In December, the Bush administration declined to sign the statement signed by 66 other nations . The Bush administration offered the rationale that although [...]

US President Barack Obama on Tuesday nominated Judge David Hamilton to serve on the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit , thereby moving to fill the first of 15 federal appellate vacancies . Hamilton previously served for 14 years as a district judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of [...]

The Iraqi Cabinet urged the Presidency Council Tuesday to ratify death sentences against three former Saddam Hussein officials. The sentences have been delayed because two of the members, President Jalal Talabani and Vice-President Tariq al-Hashemi, have opposed the sentences of Hashim al-Taie and Hussein Rashid Mohammed, alleging that both men's roles in the 1988 Anfal [...]

The US Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals upheld Tuesday a military judge's dismissal of the charges against Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani , the top-ranking US Marine to face court-martial in the killing of 24 Iraqis in Haditha . The court affirmed the appearance of "unlawful command influence" when a lawyer who had investigated the [...]