In the wake of the US Supreme Court's June decision in Kelo v. New London allowing a local government authority to expropriate private property for private redevelopment that confers economic benefits on the community, legislators in at least 25 states are working to limit the scope of the controversial ruling. In Alabama, Gov. Bob Riley [...]

Under pressure from the US government, Unocal late Tuesday accepted an increased $17.1 billion buyout bid from Chevron, turning down an $18.5 billion offer from the China National Offshore Oil Company Ltd. (CNOOC) . Unocal had made an earlier merger deal with Chevron when the CNOOC offer was made. US legislators had objected to the [...]

Several Sunni Arab members of the 71-member team drafting the new Iraq constitution have halted their participation in the process following the assassination of two colleagues Tuesday. Differing reports say that between 4 and 15 Sunni members have stopped working on the drafting committee because "the environment in Iraq isn't right for anyone to get [...]

A federal shield law for reporters introduced by Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN) and Rep. Representative Mike Pence (R-IN) was called "bad public policy" by US Deputy Attorney General James Comey in written remarks submitted at a US Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on reporters' privilege legislation . Comey was scheduled to testify in person but was [...]

The commissioner of Israel's prison service Ya'akov Ganot told a Knesset committee on Wednesday that Israeli detention facilities were equipped to hold as many as 2,300 anti-pullout activists predicted to take part in illegal protests against the pullout from Gaza now slated to begin in August. Ganot added that the prison service had set up [...]

US Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter said Wednesday that a bill he is co-sponsoring to end asbestos injury lawsuits is unlikely to receive a vote in the Senate before the August recess. The statement comes after Specter earlier in the month urged the bill to be brought forward despite a tight schedule. The Fairness [...]

Thailand's National Human Rights Commission said Wednesday that a security decree passed by the Cabinet Tuesday giving Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra new power to deal with an insurgency in the country's Muslim south should be abolished. The group argues that the law violates United Nations human rights covenants and infringes on rights and liberties secured [...]

According to a working draft of the new Iraqi constitution obtained Tuesday by the New York Times, Islamic law would play a strong role in the Iraqi legal and political system and women's rights would be cut back. Under the text, equality for women would be allowed only insofar as it did not conflict with [...]

The Canadian Senate approved a bill Tuesday that would make Canada the fourth nation in the world to legalize gay marriage after the Netherlands, Belgium, and, most recently, Spain . Bill C-38 , which passed the House of Commons in late June, now goes to Canada's Governor-General for royal assent in the name of the [...]

In the wake of an Italian judge's decision last month to issue warrants for 13 CIA operatives wanted in connection with the kidnapping of radical Muslim cleric Abu Omar off the streets of Milan in 2003, Italian prosecutor Armando Spataro asked an appeals court Wednesday to issue six more arrest warrants for purported CIA agents. [...]