The Vatican announced Wednesday that the College of Cardinals has set April 18 as the beginning of its secret conclave to elect a successor to Pope John Paul II, who died Saturday . The conclave will begin that afternoon, and according to the governing apostolic constitution on papal succession , one ballot will be held [...]

The National Human Rights Commission of South Korea issued a non-binding recommendation Wednesday that the country's death penalty be abolished. Eight of the nine officials on the Commission approved the resolution, which will be forwarded to the National Assembly . The Legislation & Judiciary Committee of the National Assembly is currently considering an abolition bill [...]

Morgan Tsvangirai , president of the Zimbabwean opposition party Movement for Democratic Change , announced Wednesday that the MDC had proof of "serious and unaccountable gaps" between the totals of reported votes and tallied votes in one quarter of the 120 open seats at stake in last week's Zimbabwe parliamentary elections. MDC officials said that [...]

The Florida Legislature passed a new bill through both houses Tuesday giving citizens the right to use firearms to defend themselves at home or in public places if they "reasonably believe[] it is necessary to do so, to prevent death or great bodily harm" to themselves or others. The stated intent of the bill, strongly [...]

Kevin Martin , the new chairman of the Federal Communications Commission , called on members of the cable TV industry Tuesday to find ways to help parents regulate indecent content. Martin spoke at the National Cable & Telecommunications Association annual meeting, advocating for increased involvement of the cable TV industry in allowing parents to keep [...]

The Kyrgyz Supreme Court Wednesday annuled a 2001 guilty verdict for criminal abuse of power against Felix Kulov , the leader of the Ar-Namys opposition group who was freed from prison during the March 24 protests in Kyrgyzstan which prompted the flight and resignation of President Askar Akayev. Kulov will appear before the Supreme Court [...]

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal announced Tuesday that his office is preparing the first state-sponsored federal lawsuit against the US Department of Education for imposing millions of dollars worth of illegal unfunded mandates under the No Child Left Behind Act . In order to comply with NCLB testing mandates, Connecticut will be required to spend [...]

Voters in Kansas overwhelmingly approved a state constitutional amendment Tuesday that will ban same-sex couples from marrying or entering into civil unions. Kansas law already prohibits same-sex marriage, but supporters of the constitutional amendment have said the ban must be included in the Kansas Constitution in order to insulate it from legal challenge. Over 70% [...]

As expected , Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani was elected by the 275-member Iraqi National Assembly Wednesday to serve as president of Iraq's transitional government. In the same vote, Shiite Adel Abdul-Mahdi and Sunni current interim President Ghazi al-Yawer were chosen as vice presidents. Talabani and his vice presidents received 227 votes, with thirty ballots left [...]

Here's a run-down of law-related events, expected developments and live webcasts on JURIST's docket for Wednesday, April 6. The US Senate convenes at Noon ET today. Watch a live webcast of proceedings. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is holding a hearing to consider several Environmental Protection Agency nominations, including Stephen L. Johnson as [...]