The Zimbabwe Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Zimbabwean citizens living outside the country would not be permitted to participate in upcoming parliamentary elections. The ruling affects 3.4 million people representing over 20% of Zimbabwe's total population. The ruling does, however, allow diplomats and servicemen stationed abroad to vote. The appeal was brought by opponents of [...]

S 653, For the relief of the parents of Theresa Marie Schiavo, passed by the US Senate March 17, 2005 . Read the full text of the bill .

Here's a run-down of law-related events, expected developments and live webcasts on JURIST's docket for Friday, March 18. The US Senate and US House are not in session today. They will resume session on Monday, March 21. At the UN, the Secretary-General's Representative for Burundi will give a brief on the latest developments in the [...]

HB 701, Artificially Provided Sustenance and Hydration, Florida House of Representatives, March 17, 2005 . Read the full text of the bill here. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

Pinney, et al. v. Nokia, Inc. et al., United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, March 17, 2005 . Excerpt: Because federal subject matter jurisdiction is lacking in four of the cases, we reverse the district court's order denying the motion to remand those cases. There is diversity jurisdiction over the fifth case, [...]

Caught in the Net: The Impact of Drug Policies on Women and Families, ACLU and associated groups, March 17, 2005 . Excerpt: Federal and state drug laws and policies over the past twenty years have had specific, devastating, and disparate effects on women, and particularly women of color and low income women. These effects require [...]

HR 1332, Protection of Incapacitated Persons Act of 2005, passed by the United States House of Representatives on March 17, 2005 . Read the full text of the bill here. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

South Dakota governor Mike Rounds Thursday signed four bills restricting abortion in the state, further tightening what some consider the nation's toughest laws on abortion . One of the bills requires that doctors inform pregnant women that abortion ends the life of a human. Doctors must also tell women that abortion involves the risk of [...]

US District Judge Patricia Seitz gave her conditional approval Thursday to the proposed $25.5 million settlement between Hungarian survivors of the Holocaust and the US government over a train seized by the US Army in 1945 that was filled with gold, art, and other property, valued at the time between $50 million and $200 million. [...]

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan issued a written statement Thursday demanding that Syria withdraw all troops from Lebanon prior to that country’s April and May parliamentary elections in order to ensure that the elections are free, fair, and conducted as scheduled. Syria has pulled its forces back to eastern Lebanon, with some 4,000 troops returning to [...]