The new French iTunes copyright legislation went into effect Thursday, allowing French regulators to force Apple Computer to make its iPod player compatible with songs downloaded from other Internet music stores, and downloads from its iTunes service compatible with other players. The French Senate and National Assembly gave final approval to the legislation in June, [...]

Nepal's High Level Probe Commission Thursday questioned army chief Pyar Jung Thapa as part of the panel's continuing investigation of alleged human rights abuses during pro-democracy protests in April which brought an end to the 14-month direct rule of King Gyanendra . Dilli Raman Acharya, spokesman for the five-member commission, said 84 royal ministers and [...]

Four US Army soldiers charged with the premeditated murder of Iraqi detainees refused to testify during their Article 32 hearing Thursday, following the lead of several superior officers who invoked their right not to incriminate themselves at the hearing. The four men from the Third Brigade Combat Team of the 101st Airborne Division – Sergeant [...]

A Malawian court Wednesday sentenced the former principal secretary in the country's Ministry of Education to two years in jail for "aiding and abetting the theft of public funds," making him the most senior civil servant to be sentenced as the African nation continues a crackdown on corruption. Sam Safuli was originally suspended in 2000 [...]

British anti-war campaigners have unveiled a legal campaign against the British government's involvement in the ongoing Middle East conflict , seeking to stop flights carrying weapons sent from the United States to Israel from stopping at British airports. Human rights lawyer Aamer Anwar said that by British authorities were facilitating attacks on civilian targets in [...]

Following up on previous consultations with Republican lawmakers , US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said on Capitol Hill Wednesday that Congress should clarify the definition of war crimes prohibited by Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions , suggesting that "a definite and clear list of offenses serious enough to be considered war crimes" would [...]

US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Wednesday ordered the full disclosure of records from a lawsuit filed by four Connecticut librarians against the FBI challenging a National Security Letter (NSL) they received last year. The four librarians refused to turn over the library records requested in the letter, which sought the identity of all [...]

US District Judge Marcia Cooke on Wednesday agreed to delay the trial of terror suspect Jose Padilla and two co-defendants until January 22 after defense attorneys said they will not be ready to begin the trial in September as scheduled. Padilla's attorneys complained that they have not had enough time to review summaries of 50,000 [...]

The US Senate Indian Affairs Committee on Wednesday postponed consideration of the Indian Trust Reform Act , legislation that would settle a decade-old class-action lawsuit brought by Native Americans alleging the mismanagment of American Indian money by the US Department of the Interior . Committee chairman Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and vice chairman Sen. Byron [...]

A California jury on Wednesday found Merck not liable for causing the heart attack of 71-year old Stewart Grossberg, determining Merck's painkiller Vioxx did not cause Grossberg's heart ailments. Merck general counsel Kenneth Frazier said Merck is "pleased with the verdict" and that it demonstrates why the company plans to defend each case independently. The [...]