Bank of America Corp. said Thursday that it will pay $460.5 million to settle class-action lawsuits brought against it by former shareholders of WorldCom. In a statement released by the company today, Bank of America denies any wrongdoing and emphasized that the settlement will "eliminate the uncertainties, expense and distraction" of protracted litigation. Last year, [...]

Job Training Improvement Act of 2005, passed by the US House of Representatives March 2, 2005 . Read the full text of the bill . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

China's State Council Thursday responded to US State Department human rights reports issued Monday that had blasted China for human rights abuses by issuing a report of its own on US human rights practices highlighting abuses committed by the US in Iraq. The document, China's sixth annual response to the US publication, cited atrocities committed [...]

One of France's biggest-ever criminal trials got under way Thursday as sixty-six people led by two former sex offenders stood accused of participating in a pedophilia ring in which children and babies were prostituted for food and small sums of money. All of the accused come from the poorest and least educated sections of society. [...]

Saddam Hussein chief lawyer Ziad al-Khasawneh said Thursday that the upcoming trial of his client should be delayed in the wake of the murder this week of a judge appointed to the Iraqi tribunal charged with hearing the case against the former dictator. Al-Khasawneh insisted that Iraq was still too dangerous for the trial and [...]

The GOP-dominated Senate Wednesday pushed ahead proposed bankruptcy overhaul legislation by defeating a series of Democratic amendments that would have sheltered seniors and sick people. Senators voted 59-40 to reject an amendment which would have given older Americans a special exemption which would have allowed them to keep their homes even if they file for [...]

Ranchers Cattlemen Action Legal Fund v. US Department of Agriculture, United States District Court for the District of Montana, Judge Richard Cebull, March 2, 2005 . Read the full text of the opinion and order . Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

The US House of Representatives late Wednesday approved a job-training bill that would allow faith-based organizations which receive federal funds to consider the religious beliefs of prospective employees. The vote on HR 27, the Job Training Improvement Act of 2005 , was 224-200 , largely along party-lines. Under current law, faith-based organizations must obey the [...]

An Indonesian court Thursday found radical cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir guilty of conspiracy to commit the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings that killed 202 people. The five-judge panel found that although Ba'asyir was not directly involved in the bombings, he did give his approval for the attack. The panel sentenced Ba'asyir to two and a half [...]

Here's a run-down of law-related events, expected developments and live webcasts on JURIST's docket for Thursday, March 3. The US Senate will convene at 9:30 AM ET today, and it will consider S.J.Res. 4 , expressing disapproval over a Department of Agriculture rule, and S. 256 , the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act [...]