A Michigan court heard arguments from attorneys representing 21 gay couples and Governor Jennifer Granholm Tuesday, who argued that the state's constitution does not prevent local governments and universities from extending benefits to the domestic partners of gay employees. A constitutional amendment approved by voters in 2004 made the union between a man and a [...]

Seventeen British families who lost relatives in Iraq will go to Britain's High Court Wednesday to demand an independent inquiry into the legality of the Iraq war . The families argue that the nation's Human Rights Act imposes the duty on the government to conduct an inquiry when the lethal use of force is involved. [...]

The Israeli army began evicting residents of Gaza Wednesday, and despite heavy resistance in some areas, officials believe the evacuation could be complete within 48 hours. Of the 21 Jewish settlements in the Gaza strip and four isolated West Bank settlements to be evacuated, two of them are already empty and it is estimated that [...]

Royal Dutch/Shell Group has said that it will appeal a decision which allows a class action lawsuit for stock fraud to continue against the company. A federal judge ruled Tuesday that the suit, questioning whether Shell's statements on its reserves purposely misrepresented important facts, adequately showed reason for further investigation into the shareholder plaintiffs' allegations. [...]

Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff , who faces federal bank fraud charges related to a casino deal, expressed his willingness Tuesday to speak with investigators about the death of Konstantinos "Gus" Boulis. Abramoff is charged with conspiracy and wire fraud in the September 2000 purchase of SunCruz Casinos from Boulis, who was shot to death a [...]

A US Department of Defense analyst and two former officials of the pro-Israel lobbying group American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified national defense information. Analyst Lawrence Franklin, who worked on the Pentagon's Iran desk at the time of the allegations, has been [...]

Leading Tuesday's states brief, the US Court of Appeals for the Eight Circuit ruled today that North Dakota may not use federal water pollution laws to challenge the Army Corps of Engineers' management of the Missouri River nor may the state's Attorney General force the Army Corps to stop drawing its Missouri River water releases [...]

Leading Tuesday's corporations and securities law news, JP Morgan Chase has settled with Enron for the bank's role in the accounting fraud that lead to Enron's bankruptcy . In a Tuesday press release , JP Morgan said that the bank will pay Enron $350 million in return for Enron not pursuing its claims against JP [...]

Kurdish leaders insisted Tuesday that they do not plan to secede from Iraq even though they want the new Iraqi constitution to provide the group the right to self-determination in order to protect themselves from potential future problems. The issues of self-determination, the role of Islam, federalism and the use of oil and other natural [...]

Indicted former Rwandan government official Michel Bagaragaza surrendered himself to officials from the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda on Tuesday. Bagaragaza has been indicted on charges of conspiracy to commit genocide, genocide and complicity in genocide and is alleged to have ordered his own subordinates and others to kill hundreds of Tutsi civilian refugees seeking [...]