Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif told newly-appointed US Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy Karen Hughes Monday that his government plans to lift the state of emergency that has been in place in the country for 24 years. Nazif told Hughes that the process would "take some time because it involves legal and constitutional challenges" [...]

New Jersey Attorney General Peter C. Harvey filed lawsuits Monday against Hess , Shell , and Sunoco , alleging that the oil and gas giants and several independent gas-station owners illegally hiked prices in the days surrounding Hurricane Katrina . The separate suits, believed to be the first civil actions in the US responding to [...]

Australian state and territory leaders Tuesday agreed to strict new anti-terror measures proposed by the federal government of Prime Minister John Howard which include detaining terror suspects for up to 48 hours without charge and using electronic tracking devices to keep tabs on suspects. There was also agreement Tuesday to tighten citizenship laws to make [...]

US District Judge Jed. S. Rakoff Monday denied government claims that he was interfering with the president's constitutional authority to wage war when he ordered that Guantanamo Bay detainees be asked if they want their names to be publicized. The government objected to this procedure last month when Judge Rakoff first ordered the Defense Department [...]

A New York court Monday commenced proceedings in the civil trial arising out of the 1993 truck bombing of the World Trade Center . The court will need to determine whether the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is liable for their failure to act on several warnings that the World Trade Center [...]

Criminal Victimization, 2004, US Department of Justice , released September 25, 2005 . Excerpt: Taken together, the 1-year (2003-04) and 2-year (2001-02 to 2003-04) change estimates indicate that crime rates remain stabilized at the lowest levels experienced since 1973. Read the full text of the report here . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

Gun control advocates are set to start an intensive media campaign to alert travelers about a new Florida law that allows people to respond to threats by using guns at home or in public . The NRA-supported "force with force" or (to opponents) "shoot first" law formally takes effect Saturday. Peter Hamm of the Brady [...]

Egyptian judges Monday ordered opposition leader and recent presidential candidate Ayman Nour to appear in court again Tuesday to answer charges connected to the submission of forged signatures when his party applied for official recognition last year. Nour's wife and spokesperson, Gameela Ismail, suggested that the timing of the trial session deliberately coincided with the [...]

UN human rights officials have accused the government of Togo of using over-zealous force at the time of the heavily disputed April presidential elections , saying that government security and armed forces killed 400-500 people and wounded thousands more. A report released Monday by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights [...]

In Monday's environmental law news, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality has announced a proposed settlement with Colonna's Shipyard Inc. for polluting the Elizabeth River. Colonnas has agreed to pay a $40,000 fine for mistakenly flushing thousands of gallons of wastewater contaminated with tributyltin into the river. Tributyltin is a paint additive used to control [...]