Leading Tuesday's states brief, the Washington Supreme Court heard oral arguments today on whether the 1.4% motor vehicle excise tax approved by voters in November 2002 for the financing of Seattle's Monorail Project is illegal. Currently, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels and the city council have dropped support for the monorail, but a proposal for a [...]

The Mississippi Legislature convened for a special session Tuesday to begin work in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina . Gov. Haley Barbour addressed lawmakers at the session and challenged them to help rebuild coastal areas devastated by Katrina. One of the most contentious aspects of the rebuilding effort is the legal question of whether formerly [...]

The European Commission Tuesday withdrew 68 pieces of pending legislation as part of its initiative to cut back on regulatory restrictions on EU businesses. A review committee led by EU Enterprise and Industry Commissioner Guenter Verheugen reviewed 183 legislative proposals currently pending in the European Parliament. Some of the more notable measures to be cut [...]

White House spokesperson Scott McClellan said Tuesday that President Bush is close to completing the process of picking the next Supreme Court nominee. According to McClellan, the President has met with 50 Senators, including all but one member of the US Senate Judiciary Committee . He is currently expected to announce his choice to replace [...]

The trial of 16 former Parmalat directors and executives, including the company's founder and former chairman Calisto Tanzi , is set to open in Milan Wednesday, nearly two years after massive accounting fraud was uncovered at the Italian dairy giant. The 16 are accused of artificially boosting Parmalat's stock prices, misleading regulators and falsifying accounting [...]

In a televised interview Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated he foresaw no major changes to the Russian Constitution while he was in office. Putin's statement comes after proposed legislation that would have allowed Putin to serve as president after his second term concludes in 2008, if he were to step down before the conclusion [...]

Belgian Foreign Minister Karel de Gucht has formally asked that Guy Theunis, a Belgian priest, be brought to Belgium to face trial for his alleged role in the Rwandan genocide . Earlier this month, Theunis was the first foreigner to be brought before community gacaca courts for crimes relating to the 1994 genocide. His case [...]

Missouri Judge Charles Atwell has issued a further temporary restraining order against Missouri's abortion law , the second TRO to be issued since the law was signed eleven days ago. Atwell said a provision allowing parents to sue people who helped their minor daughters get abortions without their consent would unconstitutionally restrict the right to [...]

The European Parliament Tuesday Tuesday a joint proposal by several EU governments to retain phone and e-mail data for up to three years for use in anti-terror investigations. The parliament said the proposal from Britain, France, Sweden and Ireland that was introduced last year and pressed in the wake of the London bombings in July [...]

Influential Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani has denied reports that he will issue a fatwa , or religious edict, telling Shiite Muslims to vote "yes" in the upcoming referendum on the Iraqi constitution . Rather, Al-Sistani said in a statement reported by the Pentagon-backed Iraqi TV channel al-Iraqiya that he only intended to invite [...]