International Union of Operating Engineers Local #68 Welfare Fund v. Merck & Co., Inc., Superior Court of New Jersey Appellate Division, March 31, 2006 . Read the full text of the opinion. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

Documents showing Saddam Hussein's role in Iraq's 1987-1989 Anfal campaign against the Kurds are ready to be presented to the Iraqi High Criminal Court , according to Jaafar Al Moussawi, the chief prosecutor in the Saddam Hussein trial , speaking to AFP Saturday. The Anfal campaign led to the deaths of more than 180,000 Kurds [...]

French union and student leaders Saturday rejected as "unacceptable" a compromise offered by President Jacques Chirac on the First Employment Contract (CPE) , insisting they would continue public protests. Chirac announced in a televised address Friday that he intends to sign the legislation. As drafted, it allows employers to fire workers under the age of [...]

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice defended the US detention facility at Guantanamo Bay in a news conference Saturday with British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw at the end of a UK visit. In response to questions on when Guantanamo might be closed, she insisted that:the United States doesn't desire to keep Guantanamo in being any [...]

The jury in the Zacarias Moussaoui sentencing trial is taking the weekend off after adjourning Friday, having not yet reached a verdict on whether the alleged al Qaeda terrorist should receive the death penalty . The jury will resume its discussions Monday. Moussaoui pleaded guilty to six conspiracy charges last year. In related news, lawyers [...]

A New Jersey appeals court on Friday upheld a July 2005 trial court decision to certify a nationwide class of plaintiffs suing the drug maker Merck for damages relating to its withdrawn drug Vioxx . The plaintiffs – consisting of health providers, unions, and insurers – accuse Merck of knowing about the increased heart risks [...]

In a speech in Los Angeles on Friday, US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announced that the US Department of Justice, through its anti-gang initiative, will give out $15 million in grants to six areas to help fund their fight against gang violence. The eligible areas are Los Angeles, California; Tampa, Florida; Cleveland, Ohio; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; [...]

Britain has circulated a draft resolution to fellow UN Security Council members that would permit the pending war crimes trial of former Liberian president Charles Taylor to be moved from Sierra Leone to The Hague. UK diplomats say Taylor's continued presence in the region may pose security concerns and threaten instability following his arrest in [...]

The Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina ruled Friday that Bosnia's main ethnic groups dominating the country's two semi-autonomous regions must discontinue use of ethnic symbols, including anthems, flags, and coats of arms adopted after the 1992-95 Bosnian war, because they were discriminatory. Serbs in the Republic of Srpska and Muslims and Croats in the [...]

President Bush on Friday completed a two-day summit in Cancun with Mexican President Vicente Fox and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper by once again calling on the US Congress to pass immigration reform legislation that would allow illegal immigrants to stay in the United States as temporary workers. Earlier this week the Senate Judiciary Committee [...]