Charles Stimson : "One thing you don't hear a lot about is the practical side of telecom immunity. Think about all the government contractors contributing to our national security who are fearful that doing their duties could lead to massive civil liabilities. The point was driven home to me earlier this summer, when I sat [...]

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said Monday that the US terrorist watchlist is too large, contains inaccuracies, and should include more safeguards to prevent the unnecessary targeting of passengers for additional security screenings. The group estimated that the register now includes more than one million names , which the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) [...]

Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme submitted his resignation Monday night because of his coalition government's inability to successfully divide federal powers between the Flemish- and French-speaking communities. Leterme had set a deadline of July 15 for the four-month-old coalition to agree on constitutional reforms to grant increased autonomy to the two regions. Leterme said that [...]

A three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on Tuesday upheld the dismissal of a libel case brought against the New York Times by former US Army biodefense research scientist Dr. Stephen Hatfill . In its ruling, the court agreed with the decision of the US District Court for the [...]

An Italian court Monday found 15 police officers and medical staff members guilty of abusing anti-globalization protesters who were taken into custody during the 2001 G8 summit in Genoa . The protesters said they were subjected to threats and physical abuse, and were denied food and access to their consulates while being held in a [...]

The Australian Federal Court ruled Tuesday that a law giving police regulatory powers over potentially "annoying" behavior during World Youth Day (WYD) was unconstitutional and possibly exceeded legislative intent. Section 7(1)(b) of the World Youth Day Amendment Regulation 2008 , designed to amend and supplement Section 58 of the original World Youth Day Act 2006 [...]

Indonesia on Tuesday formally accepted a joint Indonesian-East-Timorese Commission of Truth and Friendship (CTF) finding that Indonesia was responsible for human rights violations following a 1999 referendum in which East Timor voted for independence from Indonesia . This is the first time that Indonesia has accepted any responsibility for the attacks in East Timor, which [...]

Malaysian authorities have issued an arrest warrant for opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim following his failure to appear at a Malaysian police station to give a statement regarding sodomy allegations made against him by a former aide. According to police, Ibrahim had been scheduled to appear at the Kuala Lumpur Police Headquarters Monday at 2:00 PM [...]

Lawyers for Canadian Guantanamo detainee Omar Khadr released an excerpt Tuesday of a 2003 interrogation of Khadr conducted by Canadian officials, marking the first time Guantanamo interrogation footage has been available to the public. The eight-minute clip is part of seven hours of footage given to lawyers after the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in [...]

Members of the US Senate Republican Conference Monday called for an end to delays in considering federal district and circuit court judges nominated by President George W. Bush. Members of the Conference said the delays have lead to chronic under-staffing of federal courts and that some courts have only three quarters of their positions filled, leading [...]