Warrantless wiretapping illegal, rules US court

WASHINGTON - Ruling that a Bush administration programme continued by President Barack Obama of domestic surveillance without a warrant is illegal, a federal judge has held the government liable for illegally wiretapping an Islamic charity.

Billionaire William Koch uncorks new NY lawsuit against Christie’s alleging wine auction fraud

Billionaire uncorks new lawsuit over rare wine

ACLU: 2 mentally disabled immigrants detained for years in Calif. will be freed

ACLU: 2 mentally disabled detainees to be freed

Nirma proposes to give land to break cement plant deadlock

GANDHINAGAR - Nirma Industries Ltd. Wednesday proposed before the Gujarat High Court that it can release 46 hectares of land allotted for its cement plant after petitioners alleged that the land for the proposed project was on a river bed.

‘Bullet-proof jackets can’t protect from powerful weapons’

MUMBAI - The bullet-proof jacket worn by slain ATS chief Hemant Karkare returned to haunt the Maharashtra government Wednesday when the opposition Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party slammed it for purchasing sub-standard jackets.

APNewsBreak: Swiss authorities to decide on Polanski extradition after Calif. appeal ruling

Swiss to decide on Polanski after Calif. ruling

Government ticked off for not contesting gay sex ruling

NEW DELHI - The Supreme Court Wednesday ticked off the Union government for its failure to challenge the Delhi High Court’s verdict legalising homosexual acts between consenting adults in private.

Child rights panel asked to probe kids’ trafficking

NEW DELHI - The Supreme Court Wednesday asked the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) to probe the suspected trafficking of children from northeastern states to Tamil Nadu and Kerala on the pretext of educating them.

Belgium set to become first EU country to ban burqas

BRUSSELS - Belgium Wednesday moved a step closer to becoming the first European Union (EU) country to punish Muslim women who hide their faces in public, as the interior affairs committee of its parliament passed a resolution against burqas.

pakistan’s National Accountability Bureau official removed

ISLAMABAD - The Pakistani government Wednesday sacked a senior official of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), as also an aide of the country’s interior minister, in line with a Supreme Court directive.

Perjury plea against Medha Patkar dismissed

NEW DELHI - A city court Wednesday dismissed a plea to prosecute Medha Patkar of Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) for alleged perjury.

Awareness on domestic violence act is low, say NGOs

NEW DELHI - Despite the domestic violence act being in place for the past three years, its effectiveness has been limited as awareness about the legislation is low, civil society organisations said at a seminar here Wednesday.

Case against top Zimbabwean prime minister’s aide Roy Bennett delayed again

Case against top Zimbabwean aide delayed again

Oz Supreme Court frees three LTTE supporters

MELBOURNE - An Australian Supreme Court has allowed three Australian-based backers of the Tamil Tigers to walk free after they admitted supporting the LTTE monetarily.

Geneva approached to reopen Zardari’s graft case

ISLAMABAD - The Swiss authorities have been approached to reopen a money laundering case against Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari involving $60 million, the Supreme Court was informed Wednesday.

Women refusing to remove niqab in Canada will be charged

TORONTO - After the landmark niqab ban in French-speaking Quebec province last week, Canadian police now say they will charge anyone refusing to remove face-coverings, including niqab, when being booked after arrest.

Nalini Sriharan to challenge government’s order in Madras High Court

CHENNAI - Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s assassin Nalini Sriharan is expected to move the Madras High Court challenging the decision of the Tamil Nadu Government that had rejected her plea for premature release.

New Canadian law to kick out bogus refugees

TORONTO - To throw out bogus refugee claimants, Canada Tuesday introduced a new bill that will usher in a new system within a year. Though Canada accepts about 260,000 new immigrants each year legally, thousands of people entering this country on tourist visas or fake papers stay back to apply for refugee status on grounds of persecution in their home countries.