Ali Khan : In his latest 9/11 (2007) video message, Osama bin Laden has supposedly said: "O' Americans, Muslims will continue to kill you unless you embrace Islam." Even if this message is authentic, which I doubt, Islam allows no such notion of jihad. This is the worst possible way to invite non-Muslims to Islam, [...]

The US House of Representatives Friday approved the Patent Reform Act of 2007 , the first overhaul of current US patent laws in more than 50 years. The bill passed 220-175 , with most Democrats supporting its passage, and most Republican opposed. US Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and other leading members of the Senate Judiciary [...]

Former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling appealed his conviction Friday, claiming errors by prosecutors and the trial judge. In papers filed with the US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals , Skilling's attorneys claim the US government's case against Skilling was based on a flawed legal theory, prosecutorial misconduct, and that the jury instructions failed to address [...]

Mohammed al-Qahtani, the so-called "20th hijacker" from the Sept. 11 attacks, has disclaimed his confession about his participation in the terrorist attacks, alleging that his statements were coerced by US torture. In documents obtained by the Associated Press Friday through the Freedom of Information Act , Qahtani denied involvement in and knowledge of the Sept. [...]

A Louisiana state court jury Friday found nursing home owners Salvador and Mabel Mangano not guilty of the drowning deaths of residents at St. Rita's Nursing Home in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina . Lawyers representing the Manganos, who pleaded not guilty to 35 charges of negligent homicide and 64 charges of cruelty last October, [...]

The Catholic Diocese of San Diego Friday announced an agreement to pay $198.1 million to settle 144 claims of sexual abuse by its clergy. In February, 42 clergy sex abuse cases were suspended – the night before they were scheduled to begin – after the diocese sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection . US Bankruptcy Judge [...]

Deborah D. Peterson et al. v. Islamic Republic of Iran, US District Court for the District of Columbia, Judge Royce Lamberth, September 7, 2007 . Read the full text of the memorandum opinion . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

CIA Director Michael Hayden defended the United States' secret overseas detention and interrogation policy Friday, saying that the program had obtained vital information about the terrorist threat against the US detailed in a July report . Hayden also said that fewer than 100 people total had been detained at secret overseas facilities since the 2002 [...]

A federal judge ruled Friday that Iran must compensate the families of 241 US military personnel killed in the 1983 bombing of the US Marine barracks in Beirut . Iran has been blamed for supporting Hezbollah , the militant group behind the bombing, but the country has denied responsibility. The holding awarded $2.65 billion – [...]

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani Friday objected to the planned execution of former Saddam-era Defense Minister Sultan Hashim Ahmad al-Tai , saying that al-Tai should receive clemency because he was only acting under the threat of death from Saddam and had worked with the the Kurdish community while he was an official in Saddam's regime. Talabani [...]