Nepal's Interim Constitution Drafting Committee (ICDC) on Friday presented a draft constitution to government officials and Maoist rebel representatives participating in the negotiations. The interim draft encompassing 172 articles is designed to replace the current constitution until a new representative body is elected and drafts a permanent constitution. The six-person ICDC was formed in July [...]

US District Judge James Brady has issued a preliminary injunction preventing Louisiana state officials from enforcing a recently enacted statute banning the sale of violent video games to minors. Brady ruled that the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) and the Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) , "are likely to succeed on the [...]

Law enforcement agencies in Kyrgyzstan have been detaining asylum seekers from neighboring Uzbekistan in recent weeks as part of Kyrgyz counterterrorism sweeps, and several asylum seekers have disappeared and have possibly been forcibly returned to Uzbekistan, Human Rights Watch said Friday. HRW expressed concern that four disappeared Uzbek asylum seekers are in danger and urged [...]

A Chinese court of Friday sentenced New York Times researcher Zhao Yan to three years in prison for fraud charges, but also dismissed more serious charges of illegally leaking state secrets. Zhao was convicted of taking $2,500 from a village official. He was initially also charged with providing state secrets to foreigners, and had he [...]

The US State Department has opened an investigation into whether Israel used cluster munitions in Lebanon during the most recent Middle East conflict in violation of several US-Israel agreements restricting the use of the weapons, the New York Times reported Friday. Last month, advocacy group Human Rights Watch accused Israel of using cluster grenades in [...]

Former US House Majority Leader Tom DeLay expressed disappointment Thursday in recent court decisions preventing the Texas Republican Party from removing his name as a congressional candidate in the November elections, saying that he was "very disappointed in our justice system." DeLay was forced to withdraw his name from the Texas ballot after US Supreme [...]

US Army Lt. Col. Mark Keith, the investigating officer with recommending whether 1st Lt. Ehren Watada will face a military trial for refusing to deploy to Iraq, will recommend Friday that Watada face court-martial on charges of missing his unit's movement, contempt toward officials, and conduct unbecoming an officer. A spokesman for Fort Lewis said [...]

The US Defense Department said Thursday that Murat Kurnaz , a Turkish citizen who is also a legal resident of Germany, has been transferred from Guantanamo Bay into German custody. Kurnaz's release, which was expected , comes at the recommendation of a Guantanamo Administrative Review Board . The panel recommended last year that Kurnaz be [...]

In re: Nomination Paper of Ralph Nader and Peter Michael Camejo as Candidates of an Independent Political Body for President and Vice President in the General Election of November 2, 2004, Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, August 22, 2006 . Read the full text of the opinion . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

The US Second Circuit Court of Appeals Thursday upheld the constitutional authority of the US president to regulate financial transactions with foreign countries involving the United States. The court rejected a claim by a Jordanian man, Osameh Al Wahaidy , that former President George H.W. Bush improperly invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to [...]