Italian Judge Renato La Viola ordered an investigation into the actions of Dr. Mario Riccio, the anaesthetist turned off life support for Piergiorgio Welby , a man who suffered from muscular dystrophy and sought the right to die by euthanasia, according to statements Riccio made to Reuters Monday. Italian prosecutors declined to initiate proceedings against [...]

The president of Kyrgyzstan said Monday that the government will begin steps to amend the Kyrgyz constitution. At a meeting with government officials, President Kurmanbek Bakiyev announced the formation of a working group for amendment drafting, and indicated that members of different political parties and officials from throughout the government will be included in the [...]

The Moscow City Court upheld a city ban on gay pride parades in the city on Monday, dismissing an extraordinary appeal by parade organizers challenging a ruling by the Tverskoy district court. Organizers say they are prepared to appeal to the Russian Supreme Court , and believe that the high court will be "more objective" [...]

The Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia Monday upheld the 20-year prison sentence of former Bosnian Croat soldier Miroslav Bralo , dismissing Bralo's appeal alleging the trial chamber failed to consider relevant facts. In its decision , the Appeals Chamber held that Bralo was only repeating the same arguments already [...]

The Durban High Court in South Africa ruled Monday that the country's National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) can seek the release of documents that may be used to file additional corruption charges against former South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma . The court specifically granted the NPA's application to request original documents seized by authorities in [...]

A divided US Supreme Court Monday denied petitions for certiorari in two cases brought by Guantanamo Bay detainees seeking habeas corpus review of their detentions. The petitions for certiorari came in the cases of Boumedienne v. Bush and al Odah v. United States, where the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit in February [...]

Dutch prosecutors Monday sought to introduce documents from the ongoing genocide trial of Saddam-era Iraqi officials for the gassing deaths of Kurds in the so-called "Anfal" campaign to oppose an appeal by a Dutch businessman convicted of selling chemicals used in the attacks. Frans Van Anraat was convicted last year of selling raw materials to [...]

The US Supreme Court ruled Monday that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has the authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate the emission of "greenhouse gases," such as carbon dioxide, by automobiles. In Massachusetts v. EPA , 12 states and several environmental groups sued the EPA arguing that the agency had, according to the [...]

Iraqi prosecutors Monday sought the death penalty for Ali Hassan al-Majid , the cousin of Saddam Hussein known to Western media as "Chemical Ali" for allegedly using poisonous gas to clear Kurdish villages in the 1980s. Al-Majid is facing charges in a genocide trial based on the Saddam regime's involvement in the slaughter of tens [...]

Australian Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks has submitted an application to be transferred to a prison near his home in South Australia to serve the remainder of his nine-month sentence after pleading guilty to a charge of supporting terrorism last week. South Australia's Correctional Services Minister Carmel Zollo said she was told about the application [...]