'Your papers, please' must never be heard in America

The only female judge to sit on Egypt's highest court said Tuesday she has filed the first legal challenge against the country's highly contentious constitution, which cost her the seat she held.

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi called Saturday for a referendum in two weeks on a disputed draft constitution, as tens of thousands of his supporters celebrated the decision.

An Islamist-dominated assembly began a fast-track vote on a final draft of a new Egyptian constitution Thursday, pushing through the document despite liberals' boycott in a move likely to stoke a deepening political crisis between the Islamist president and the opposition.

A new law expanding Russia's definition of treason took effect Wednesday — and critics say it's so vague that the government can now brand anyone who dissents as a traitor.
A South Korean court ended a law requiring Internet contributors to use their real names to leave comments, ruling unanimously Thursday that the policy undermined free speech.
A South Korean court ended a law requiring Internet contributors to use their real names to leave comments, ruling unanimously Thursday that the policy undermined free speech.

An Egyptian court on Tuesday suspended a government decision allowing military police and intelligence to arrest civilians, a setback for the country's military rulers after the decree drew an outcry from opponents who accused them of trying to impose martial law.

Portugal won't extradite American fugitive George Wright to the United States for crimes he committed there four decades ago, after the U.S. ran out of possibilities to appeal the decision to let him stay, a Portuguese court official said Wednesday.

Matadors drove the killing sword into bulls for the last time Sunday in Spain's powerful northeastern region of Catalonia in an emotive farewell fight before a polemical regional ban on the country's emblematic tradition takes effect.

Premier Silvio Berlusconi's trial on charges he paid for sex with an underage prostitute, then tried to use his influence to cover it up, was adjourned shortly after it opened on Wednesday at a courthouse thronged with media and surrounded by noisy supporters and protesters.
The Czech Republic's Constitutional Court has overturned parts of a law that force telephone operators to retain data on telephone calls and Internet traffic.

Kosovo is preparing to hold its first national elections since its 2008 secession from Serbia after a surprise collapse of its coalition government, delaying European Union-sponsored talks between Pristina and Belgrade.
Thailand's bid to catch up with neighboring countries on advanced telecommunications technology has stalled after a court Thursday ruled to suspend a bidding process for 3G licenses.

Two corruption cases threaten to unseat Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, dissolve his political party and hobble the bickering coalition that administers Thailand's military-backed government.