Although heckled by members of his own Likud Party , Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon Thursday announced his final rejection of demands for a national referendum on his Gaza disengagement plan , which calls for the evacuation of more than 8,000 Jewish settlers this summer. Sharon said he "will not let the extreme fringes dictate [...]

Michael Powell , outgoing Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission , said Thursday that he did not support extending broadcast indecency rules to cable television or satellite televsion or radio. Powell has supported efforts to increase penalties and enforcement for over-the-air broadcasts of indecent material, but he pointed out that most subscribers to cable and [...]

Domestic guru and corporate high-flyer Martha Stewart left the women's prison in Alderson, West Virginia early Friday morning after being discharged at the end of her five month prison sentence for lying to investigators about stock trading. A few hours later, after a flight on a private jet, she arrived at her 153-acre estate north [...]

Responding to a Brazilian complaint that US subsidies to cotton farmers are driving down world prices and hurting the cotton market, the appeals court of the World Trade Organization Thursday upheld the previous findings of trade judges that the US subsidies broke trade rules. The ruling by the WTO Appellate Body means that the US [...]

Canada's elite Royal Canadian Mounted Police suffered their most casualties since the late 1800s Thursday when four officers were killed in a raid on a suspected marijuana growing operation in Alberta. A fifth man, believed to the the suspect in the slayings, was also killed. A high-powered rifle was recovered at the scene. Contact with [...]

More than three years after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, the US House of Representatives Thursday passed a bill creating a blueprint for filling legislative vacancies should a situation like a terror strike against the Capitol arise which leaves more than 100 seats open at one time. Under the Continuity [...]

Here's a run-down of law-related events, expected developments and live webcasts on JURIST's docket for Friday, March 4. The US Senate convenes at 9:30 AM ET today, and it will consider S. 256 , the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005. Watch a live webcast of proceedings. The US House is not [...]

Human Rights Record of the US in 2004, China State Council, March 3, 2005. Excerpt: In 2004 the atrocity of US troops abusing Iraqi POWs exposed the dark side of human rights performance of the United States. The scandal shocked the humanity and was condemned by the international community. It is quite ironic that on [...]

In Thursday's environmental law news, a task force charged with reducing air pollution to 2001 levels at the Port of Los Angeles is expected to approve a preliminary plan today. The task force was commissioned by LA mayor James Hahn, and is comprised of members from a variety of Federal, state and local agencies, as [...]

A US Department of Agriculture spokesperson said Thursday that the USDA will appeal yesterday's federal court decision to delay the re-opening of US border to cattle imports from Canada . USDA spokesperson Ed Lloyd said that the court's injunction decision was not based on the merits of the case, but was focused on procedural issues. [...]