Michael Jackson’s legal woes likely to live on

Michael Jackson was a one-man cottage industry for the legal profession. Two child-molestation investigations (no convictions), two divorces, myriad civil lawsuits over concerts, special performances and soured business deals, near-bankruptcy and the threatened foreclosure of his Neverland ranch kept teams of lawyers busy. Jackson’s legal stable included the elite of Los Angeles, California, litigators — Thomas Mesereau Jr., Mark Geragos and the late Johnnie L.

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Analysis: Iranian leader’s ultimatum to protesters

Iran’s supreme leader delivered an impassioned defense of the Islamic Republic on Friday, insisting a majority of Iranians had faith in the existing establishment and issuing a "religious ultimatum" to protesters to end days of street demonstrations triggered by last week’s presidential election. Addressing a large crowd at Tehran University, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the historic voter turnout of 85 percent legitimized the Islamic system and had been a clear demonstration of the Iranian people’s trust in the regime. He rejected suggestions that fraud or cheating had been involved in President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s re-election, pointing out that the 11-million vote difference between Ahmadinejad and his principal opponent, Mir Hossein Moussavi, was too large to have been manipulated by vote-rigging

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On Agenda, Gays Ask, But Obama’s Not Telling

On January 9, the President-elect’s spokesman Robert Gibbs gave a rare one-word answer. Asked if Barack Obama would “get rid” of the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, which prohibits gays from serving openly, Gibbs replied firmly, “Yes.” Ever since, the relationship between the President and his gay and lesbian supporters has only gotten more complicated. Soldiers continue to be discharged from the military for being openly gay, and activists have voiced increasing concern over the administration’s lack of action on other key issues.

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Why The Case For China’s Lawyers Doesn’t Look Good

On May 13, Beijing lawyer Li Chunfu went to the southwestern city of Chongqing with a colleague to meet with the family of a man who died in a labor camp. While meeting with the family, Li and lawyer Zhang Kai were detained by police. Li was chained to a chair and punched, while Zhang, also roughed up during their arrest, was locked in a cage

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Secret raids ensnare 10 mayors in Mexico

More than two dozen Mexican public servants, including 10 mayors and several police chiefs, allegedly linked to illicit drugs and organized crime were arrested in simultaneous raids in Michoacan state, its governor said. The secrecy leading up to the arrests was so extensive, Gov

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Italy arrests linked to Brussels ‘al Qaeda’ recruiting network

European intelligence agencies are on alert for new al Qaeda terrorist plots following the arrest of two men at an Italian port and investigations into the activities of an alleged al Qaeda network based in Brussels. The two are closely tied to a Brussels-based al Qaeda recruiting network, Belgian counter-terrorism officials have told CNN. They are Bassam Ayachi, 62, and Raphael Gendron, 33 — and they were detained in the port of Bari on November 11 last year after allegedly trying to smuggle three Palestinians and two Syrians into Italy in the false bottom of a camper van they were driving

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