The US Supreme Court on Tuesday heard oral arguments in Wisconsin Right to Life v. Federal Election Commission , where the court will decide whether the federal Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act of 2002 , popularly known as the McCain-Feingold law, violates First Amendment free speech rights where it bans corporate and union sponsorship of [...]

Turkish Justice Minister Cemil Cicek requested Tuesday that a court return Mehmet Ali Agca , the man who shot Pope John Paul II , to prison for at least 11 more months. Agca had escaped from prison where he was serving a 36-year sentence for murdering Turkish journalist Abdi Ipekci when he shot the Pope [...]

Speaker of the US House of Representatives Dennis Hastert (R-IL) on Tuesday introduced a proposal which will restrict the gifts Congressmen may receive from lobbyists. The ethics reform plan is in response to the recent ethics scandal involving lobbyist Jack Abramoff and Congressman Tom Delay . The legislative package, which was expected includes the banning [...]

The UK Terrorism Bill proposal , introduced following last year's July 7 London bombings, suffered two defeats Tuesday in the House of Lords as peers voted against introducing a "glorification" of terrorism offense and called for more safeguards for provisions that would outlaw the spreading of terrorist publications. Prime Minister Tony Blair has already faced [...]

The British government Tuesday denied allegations that a government memo documenting a conversation between British Prime Minister Tony Blair and President George Bush included a suggestion to bomb the Aljazeera headquarters, after the news agency hired a law firm to put pressure on the British government to release the memo. The request was made under [...]

A man was arrested Tuesday in connection with the failed London bombing attempts on July 21, 2005 after police searched two residential buildings and one place of business. The 27-year old was arrested on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism under the UK Terrorism Act of 2000 . He [...]

A California school district has agreed to stop teaching a philosophy class discussing intelligent design theory as part of a settlement agreement filed Tuesday, according to the legal director for the Americans United for Separation of Church and State . A group of parents sued the school district last week arguing the "Philosophy of Design" [...]

South Africa's National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has established a policy to prosecute political crimes committed during apartheid in South Africa by individuals who were denied amnesty by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) . The new policy indicates that the National Director of Public Prosecution will make decisions on whether to prosecute, and that the [...]

Judges on the Iraqi High Criminal Court (formerly, the Iraqi Special Tribunal ), the court trying Saddam Hussein , are in disagreement over how to choose a new chief judge to replace Rizgar Amin . Amin resigned last week in protest of criticism surrounding his handling of the trial, and was replaced temporarily by colleague [...]

Russia's official newspaper, Rossiskaya Gazeta reported Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law granting tighter state control over non-governmental organizations, including those foreign-based, though there has been no official announcement from the Kremlin. The law, approved by parliament last week, has been widely criticized , but its supporters defend the measure as [...]