The US Supreme Court on Monday declined to review an Illinois Supreme Court decision setting aside a $10.1 billion verdict against Philip Morris USA for its marketing of "light" and "low-tar" cigarettes. The court issued its order in Price v. Philip Morris Inc. without comment. Late last year, the Illinois court dismissed the case , [...]

The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Monday in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. , 05-1074, a case that addresses whether and when a plaintiff may sue for pay discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 if the disparate pay was received during the statutory limitations period but resulted [...]

An Italian judge adjourned the tax fraud trial of former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and British lawyer David Mills Monday after Berlusconi collapsed during a speech in Florence Sunday. Berlusconi's lawyers requested time for Berlusconi to recover, and the trial will likely resume on Friday. In July, a judge ruled that Berlusconi should stand [...]

Alan Mansfield : "On October 18, 2006 the City of Escondido adopted local Ordinance No. 2006-38R "Establishing Penalties for the Harboring of Illegal Aliens in the City of Escondido", finding that the state and federal government lacks the resources to properly protect interests of Escondido residents. The need for the Ordinance was supposedly based on [...]

The Iraqi Parliament Monday indefinitely barred journalists from sessions of parliament as part of efforts by Iraq's National Security Council to stop contradictory statements made by Iraqi politicians, according to Reuters. Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashadani told members of parliament that reporters should be banned from parliament sessions because the media "may increase tension," and ordered cameras [...]

Chilean Judge Victor Montiglio indicted former dictator Augusto Pinochet Monday and placed him under house arrest in connection with the firing-squad deaths of two of former President Salvador Allende's bodyguards during the so-called Caravan of Death that followed the coup in which Pinochet seized power and Allende was killed. Pinochet was originally charged in the [...]

Israel is willing to release many Palestinian prisoners , even long-term detainees, if Palestinian militants agree to free Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit , Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Monday. Shalit was captured in Gaza on June 25, and his detention helped spark the latest round of violence in the region over the summer. As [...]

China's State Council is considering a draft resolution that would establish a national agency to regulate organ transplants in the wake of international criticism over Chinese organ transplant practices. Chinese health officials have admitted that the majority of organs for transplant come from executed prisoners, and while China formally requires informed consent from the prisoners [...]

Thailand's military leaders decided Monday to lift martial law in 40 of the country's 76 provinces, pending the approval of Thai Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont . Thailand has been under a state of martial law since the Thai military seized power from civilian prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra in a bloodless coup in September. The Council [...]

Saddam Hussein's genocide trial resumed Monday with testimony from witnesses describing how Hussein's soldiers executed civilians during the "Anfal" campaigns against ethnic Kurds in northern Iraq from 1987 to 1988. All seven defendants appeared in court, though several were represented by court-appointed lawyers while members of the defense team continue their boycott of the proceedings. [...]