The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Monday upheld the constitutionality of a Texas law mandating daily observance of a minute of silence in public schools. The three-judge panel affirmed the ruling of the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas that deemed constitutional the 2003 amendments to § 25.0821 [...]

Computer chip maker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) revealed Monday in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that rival chip designer Intel Corp. is threatening to cancel licenses granted to AMD in a joint venture between the two firms. Intel has alleged in correspondence with AMD that AMD is in breach of [...]

Daniel Schuman : "On March 11, 2009, President Obama issued his first presidential signing statement – a formal expression of his views regarding legislation that he has just signed into law – identifying five areas in an omnibus appropriations act that he will decline to enforce because of "well-founded constitutional objections." How similar is President [...]

Members of the Pakistan lawyers' movement on Monday welcomed the reinstatement of Pakistan Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry , hailing the move as a major victory. Lawyers' movement supporters rallied at Chaudhry's home Monday, where the Chief Justice thanked the crowds for their support in the fight for reinstatement. Ali Ahmad Kurd, the [...]

 The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)  characterized CIA tactics used against terrorism suspects as constituting torture in a confidential 2007 report, according an article published in the New York Review of Books earlier this month. Author Mark Danner wrote that he was able to obtain a copy of the report, originally intended for CIA general [...]

Wireless communications company Qualcomm announced Monday that the US District Court for the Southern District of California has dismissed a lawsuit against it by longtime corporate rival Broadcom asking the court to declare several Qualcomm patents exhausted and unenforceable. In the order issued Thursday, Judge William Hayes held that Broadcom's complaint lacked grounds for relief [...]

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a radio interview Sunday that the German government must more strictly enforce its gun-control laws. Merkel's comments came less than a week after 17-year-old Tim Kretschmer shot and killed 16 people in southern Germany. Authorities believe Kretschmer obtained the gun he used in the shooting from an unsecured place [...]

Pakistan Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani announced Monday that the government will reinstate deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry in response to recent protests by members of the Pakistan lawyers' movement and opposition politicians and supporters. In a televised address, Gilani announced that Chaudhry and other deposed judges will be reinstated March 21, when [...]

The number of immigrants detained by the US has drastically increased over the last decade, according to an AP report issued Sunday. A US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) database, obtain by the AP through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) , indicates that on January 25, 32,000 individuals were detained in the US. This [...]

A group of 16 human rights investigators and judges "shocked to the core" by the events during the most recent Gaza conflict have called for a full investigation of possible violations of the Geneva Conventions in an open letter addressed to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and all members of the UN Security Council. The signatories [...]